THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN 
COMPOSITION 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK   •   BOSTON  •    CHICAGO 
DALLAS  •    SAN   FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON  •   BOMBAY  •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN 
COMPOSITION 


A  TRAINING-MANUAL  IN  THE  METHOD  AND  MECHAN- 
ICS OF  WRITING,  WITH  A  SUPPLEMENTARY 
DIVISION  ON  JOURNALISTIC  WRITING 
AS  A  MEANS  OF  PRACTICE 


BY 

ROBERT  WILSON   NEAL 

A.M.  (UNIV.  KANSAS,  HARVARD,  YALE) 

English  and  Journalism,  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College ; 

Sometime 

Instructor  in  the  University  of  Kansas  and  the  University  of  Cincinnati; 

Acting  Head  of  Department,  Rutgers  College;  and  Member 

of  the  Editorial  Department,  The 

World's  Work 


Nefo  fffltfe 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1912 


COPYRIGHT,  1911, 
BY  EOBEET  WILSON  NEAL. 

COPYRIGHT,  1912, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.    Published  August,  1912. 


NorhjcotJ 
Berwick  &  Smith  Co.,  Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


TABLE  AND  ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS 

FOB  CONDENSED  INDEX  OF  SECTIONS  BY  PAGES,  SEE  PAGE  165 

PAGE 

FOREWORD 1 

A  manual  of  practice,  not  of  theory. 
Reason  for  stating  principles  as  rules. 
Attention  centered  upon  thought  and  think- 
ing, not  upon  form. 

Adaptable  to  various  stages  of  advancement. 
Acknowledgments . 

Treatment  of  the  forms  of  discourse  and  the 
choice  of  words. 

THE  AUTHOR'S  METHOD  WITH  THE  BOOK 6 

To  THE  STUDENT 9 

Mistakes  concerning  the  reasons  for  study- 
ing English. 
The  true  object  in  studying  English. 

SECTION 

I.   COMPOSITION;   PARAGRAPH  AND  WHOLE  COM- 
POSITION         16 

II.  UNITY 18 

General  tests  of  unity  in  paragraphs  and 
whole  compositions. 

III.   SUBJECT  AND  TOPIC 20 

Subject  a  term;  topic  a  declarative  sentence. 
Subject  of  thought  also  the  subject  of  the 

sentence. 
Necessity  of  precise  statement  of  topic  as 

writer's  guide;  working-thought. 
Subjects,  large  and  small. 
The  title. 

IV.  UNITS  OF  THOUGHT  (THOUGHT-BLOCKS) 26 

iii 


IV          TABLE  AND  ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS 

SECTION  PAQB 

V.  CONNECTEDNESS  OF  THOUGHT  IN  THE  COM- 
POSITION (COHERENCE) 27 

General  tests  of  coherence  in  composition 
and  paragraph. 

Clearness  of  thought  essential  to  coherence. 

Connectedness  of  language  as  an  element  of 
coherence. 

VI.  EMPHASIZING  IMPORTANT  THOUGHTS 32 

Space  emphasis  and  place  emphasis. 
Emphasis  in  news  reports. 

VII.   PARAGRAPHS  REALLY  WHOLE  COMPOSITIONS  . .       34 

VIII.  STATING  THE  WORKING-THOUGHT  (SUBJECT, 

TOPIC,  WORKING-THOUGHT) 35 

Importance  of  precise  statement. 

Importance  of  subject. 

Importance  of  predicate. 

Descriptive,  narrative,  expository,  and  argu- 
mentative working-thought. 

The  working-thought  in  the  guise  of  a 
formula. 

Inclusion  or  omission  of  topic-statement  or 
working-thought . 

IX.  BUILDING  UP  THE  COMPOSITION 43 

X.  INDUCTION  AND  DEDUCTION 44 

XI.  SELECTION  OF  THOUGHT-MATERIAL 49 

Must  support  working-thought  and  be 
adapted  to  the  reader. 

XII.  DETERMINING  THE  ORDER  OF  THE  THOUGHT- 
BLOCKS 54 

XIII.  CHOOSING  A  METHOD  OF  DEVELOPMENT.  ...       56 

XIV.  BUILDING  UP  THOUGHT  BY  ENUMERATING  IM- 

PLIED DETAILS 58 

XV.  BUILDING  UP  THOUGHT  THROUGH  ILLUSTRA- 
TION; COMPARING  THE  SUBJECT  TO  SOME- 
THING ELSE '. .  60 


TABLE  AND  ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS 


•BCT10N  PAGE 

XVI.  BUILDING  UP  THOUGHT  THROUGH  ILLUSTRA- 
TION; COMPARING  ONE  THING  WITH  AN- 
OTHER    62 

Illustration  through  likeness  and  unlikeness. 
Illustration  through  contrast  and  opposition. 

XVII.  BUILDING  UP  THOUGHT  THROUGH  ILLUSTRA- 
TION; CITING  INSTANCES  OR  EXAMPLES.  .  64 

XVIII.   BUILDING  UP  THOUGHT  THROUGH  DEFINITION.     67 

XIX.  BUILDING  UP  THOUGHT  THROUGH  DEFINITION; 
SYNONYMS  AND  SIMPLE  EXPLANATORY 
TERMS 68 

XX.  BUILDING  UP  THOUGHT  THROUGH  DEFINITION; 
SHOWING  THE  CONTENT  OF  EXPRESSIONS 
EMPLOYED 71 

XXI.   BUILDING  UP  THOUGHT  THROUGH  DEFINITION; 

LOGICAL  DEFINITION 74 

^  ^XXll.   BUILDING  UP  THOUGHT  BY  APPLYING  A  PRIN- 
CIPLE         77 

XXIII.  BUILDING  UP  THOUGHT  BY  PRESENTING  PROOF      80 

(Various  methods  of  thought-building 
amount  to  proof.) 

XXIV.  BUILDING  UP  THOUGHT  THROUGH  EXPLANA- 

TION OF  CAUSE  OR  EFFECT 83 

XXV.  WHAT  is  MEANT  BY  PLANNING 88 

XXVI.  TERMS  TO  BE  AVOIDED  (INTRODUCTION,  BODY, 

CONCLUSION) 90 

XXVII.   FINDING  THE  STARTING-PLACE 

Introductions  often  unnecessary.  92 

False  beginnings. 

Important  matter  usually  necessary  in  the 
beginning. 

Indicating  at  once  what  the  composition  con- 
cerns. 

XXVIII.  FINDING  THE  STOPPING-PLACE 94 

False  endings  to  be  avoided. 
Formal  summaries  not  always  needed. 
Directing  the  thought  clearly  to  the  main 
facts  at  the  end. 


VI          TABLE  AND  ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS 

SECTION  PAGE 

XXIX.  THE  MAIN  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  THOUGHT.       96 

XXX.  THINKING  our  A  COMPOSITION 97 

Working  out  the  main  steps. 
Working  out  the  minor  steps. 

XXXI.  REVIEW 101 

XXXII.  NUMBERING  THE  DIVISIONS 102 

XXXIII.  WORDING  THE  DIVISIONS 104 

XXXIV.  MAKING  FALSE  DIVISIONS 107 

XXXV.   MAKING   SUBDIVISIONS   EQUAL   MAIN   DIVI- 
SIONS      109 

XXXVI.    MAKING  MAIN  DIVISIONS  INTO  SUBDIVISIONS.     Ill 

XXXVII.  SUBDIVISIONS  THAT  DO  NOT  SUPPORT  THEIR 

HEADINGS 113 

XXXVIII.  FILLING  OUT  THE  PLAN 116 

XXXIX.  TESTING  THE  COMPOSITION  FOR  UNITY 118 

XL.  TESTING  FOR  UNITY;    THE   LOST  POINT  OF 

VIEW 120 

Indication  of  the  point  of  view. 
Physical  and  mental  points  of  view. 
General  and  particular  points  of  view. 
Impossible  facts  introduced  in  violation  of 

r'nt  of  view, 
beginnings,  false  endings,  digressions. 
Narrative  view-point;  the  omniscient  view- 
point. 

XLI.  USING  A  LARGE  TOPIC  FOR  A  LITTLE  COM- 
POSITION       127 

XLII.  TESTING  THE  COMPOSITION  FOR  COHERENCE.  .     129 
Unity  of  impression,  of  material,  and  of  ex- 
pression. 

XLIII.  COHERENCE;   PUTTING  THE  THOUGHT-BLOCKS 

IN  A  LOGICAL  ORDER 130 

Chronological  order;  sequence  in  description, 
exposition,  etc. 


TABLE  AND  ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS         vii 

SECTION  PAGE 

XLIV.  COHERENCE;  SHOWING  FORTH  THE  ORDER  OF 

THE  THOUGHT 135 

Devices  for  securing  coherence:  connective 
expressions,  transitions,  summaries,  etc. 

XLV.  COHERENCE   AND   EMPHASIS;     KEEPING   THE 

MAIN  THOUGHT  PROMINENT 138 

XL VI.  COHERENCE;  HEADLESS  BEGINNINGS 140 

XL  VII.   COHERENCE;    INFERENCE,  CONCESSION,  CON- 
TRAST, AND  CUMULATIVE  CONNECTIVES.  . .     141 

XL VIII.  THOUGHT-BUILDING  TOWARD  SPECIAL  ENDS; 

THE  FORMS  OF  DISCOURSE 144 

Description;  narration;  exposition;  argu- 
mentation. 

XLIX.  THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  JOURNALISM;  THE 

PURPOSE  OF  NEWSPAPER  WRITING 146 

News  reporting  and  news  interpreting. 

Forms  of  discourse  essentially  involved  in 
newspaper  writing. 

L.  NEWSPAPER  WRITING;  REPORTING 147 

Definitions  of  news. 

Reporters  and  correspondents. 

Technical  and  cant  terms  of  newspaper  work. 

LI.  REPORTING;  WRITING  THE  NEWS  STORY 149 

The  lead;  the  feature;  illustrative  " stories.'7 

LII.  THOUGHT-BUILDING    IN    JOURNALISM;     EDI- 
TORIAL WRITING 157 

LIII.   CONCLUSION;    THE  VALUE  OF  JOURNALISTIC 

PRACTICE 159 


REPRESENTATIVE  HEADLINES 163 


THOUGHT-BUILDING   IN 
COMPOSITION 


FOREWORD 

A  few  words  of  explanation  are  in  place  to  teachers 
who  may  chance  to  see  this  booklet. 

First.  The  manual  has  been  prepared  as  a  manual 
of  practice,  not  of  theory.  Purposely,  the  theory  has 
been  limited  to  bare  essentials;  for  the  author,  re- 
gretfully but  surely,  has  been  gradually  forced  to  the 
conclusion  that,  under  present  educational  condi- 
tions, the  study  of  verbal  expression  in  anything  but 
its  fundamentals  is  better  postponed  to  later  college 
years,  or  at  least  reserved  for  the  comparatively  few 
students  who  show  especial  ability  or  develop  par- 
ticular interest  in  it.  Moreover,  even  the  gifted  and 
the  specially  interested  are,  at  the  age  of  college  fresh- 
men, ordinarily  not  so  far  advanced  that  extended 
practice  in  applying  the  foundation  principles  of  the 
art  will  not  be  as  good  a  training  as  they  can  have. 

Second.  As  this  is  a  manual  of  practice,  and  as  in 
practice  the  worker  is  concerned  primarily  with  ap- 
plied method,  the  principles  have  been  dogmatically 
stated  in  the  form  of  precept  and  rule.  And  because 

1 


2r         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

writing,  in  practice,  may  be  called  one  of  the  "  opera- 
tive "  arts,  having  its  own  technique  —  having  in- 
deed its  own  mechanics,  which  the  successful  operator 
must  know  practically  —  some  of  these  rules  have 
been  made,  not  merely  dogmatic,  but  mechanical. 
True,  serious  objections  can  be  urged  to  either  form 
of  statement,  and  in  these  objections  the  author  joins 
heartily.  He  dislikes  dogma,  and  he  knows  that  — 
ultimately  —  writing  must  not  and  cannot  be  me- 
chanical. But  most  college  freshmen  are  unlikely 
ever  to  attain  this  "  ultimately  "  in  writing,  and  not 
one  in  a  hundred  is  likely  to  approach  it  while  still  in 
college.  Meantime,  students  badly  need  training  in 
both  the  method  and  the  mechanics  of  thinking  and 
writing.  Nor  are  the  mechanical  directions  in  this 
handbook  more  mechanical  than  many  a  principle 
that  finds  its  place  in  the  handbooks  of  logic,  archi- 
tecture, and  painting,  and  also  in  the  practice  of  great 
thinkers,  builders,  and  painters.  The  purpose  of  this 
manual,  therefore,  and  the  ease  with  which  it  can  be 
supplemented  with  a  book  of  specimens;  the  imma- 
turity of  students;  and  indeed  psychology  itself;  — 
warrant  this  formalizing  of  principle  into  mechanical 
precept. 

Third.  Attention  is  centered  everywhere  upon 
thought  and  the  thinking  of  it,  not  upon  form,  except 
as  an  incorporation,  or  adequate  outward  embodi- 
ment of  the  thought  itself.  If  the  author's  experience 
is  to  be  depended  on,  this  is  the  only  safe  method 
of  approach  with  students  of  freshman  age;  and  the 


FOREWORD  3 

reports  of  teachers  in  other  branches  confirm  his 
belief.  Whether  in  agriculture  or  esthetics,  physics  or 
psychology,  geology  or  German,  by  far  the  greatest 
difficulty  that  students  seem  to  encounter  is  that  of 
simple  thinking  —  of  mastering  the  thought  of  the 
textbook  or  lecture,  and  of  commanding  their  own 
faculties  in  dealing  with  it.  With  this  fact  must  be 
considered  another;  namely,  that  nowadays,  in  the 
required  part  of  courses  of  study,  few  subjects  except 
English  remain  such  as  lend  themselves  readily  to  the 
purpose  of  a  logical,  or  disciplinary,  organon.  But 
this  English  can  be,  and,  as  things  are  now,  often  must 
be,  willy-nilly.  In  a  manual  intended  for  freshmen, 
it  seems  wise,  therefore,  to  concentrate  attention  and 
effort  upon  thought  and  its  management;  especially 
as  attention  to  clearness  and  accuracy  in  thinking 
does  and  must  constantly  direct  attention  to  clearness 
and  accuracy  in  word  and  sentence. 

Fourth.  Although  the  author  has  prepared  his 
manual  for  use  in  freshman  classes  in  college,  he  deems 
the  plan  of  study  it  contains  quite  adapted  to  study 
in  the  preparatory  school.  Indeed,  he  questions 
whether  —  under  different  conditions  determining 
the*  programs  of  preparatory  study  and  the  number 
of  pupils  assigned  to  a  single  teacher  —  English  as  an 
organon  does  not  belong  rather  in  the  grammar  and 
the  high  school  than  in  the  college.  At  least,  he  be- 
lieves himself  not  alone  in  the  conviction  that  more 
intensive  study  of  simple  logic  and  thought-handling, 
through  English  or  other  fundamental  subjects,  were 


4  THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

it  provided  for  in  the  curricula  required  of  the  high 
schools,  would  quite  justify  itself,  proving  a  wise  sub- 
stitute for  more  extensive,  but  less  concentrated  and 
disciplinary  work. 

To  these  comments  ought  to  be  added  at  least  a 
brief  acknowledgment  of  indebtedness.  All  teach- 
ers will,  in  the  treatment  of  the  present  handbook, 
recognize  Professor  Genung's  "  working  idea "  in 
combination  with  Professor  Wendell's  paragraph-con- 
densed-to-a-sentence.  In  a  number  of  sections,  also, 
will  be  found  a  simplifying,  formalizing,  and  adapta- 
tion of  method  already  presented,  either  explicitly 
or  by  suggestion,  in  some  sections  of  the  "  Paragraph 
Writing "  of  Professors  Scott  and  Denney,  whose 
various  textbooks  have  laid  all  the  English-teaching 
profession  under  obligation.  But  in  judging  of  the 
need  of  these  adaptations,  as  throughout  the  manual, 
the  author  has  been  guided,  first  by  his  experience 
in  the  classroom,  and,  second,  by  his  experience  of 
writing,  not  as  theory,  but  as  art  and  craft,  gained 
in  an  almost  constant  practice  continued  more  than 
twenty  years. 

Finally,  to  those  who  may  seek  an  extended  ex- 
planation here  of  the  "  forms  of  discourse/'  so-called, 
the  reminder  may  be  given  that  the  foundation  aim 
of  this  manual  is  merely  to  present  elementary,  or 
rather  primary,  thought-processes  in  their  method. 
Interesting  and  valuable  as  the  distinctions  may  be 
between  description  and  narration,  exposition  and 
argumentation,  and  so  on,  these  distinctions  do  not 


FOREWORD  5 

depend  on  a  difference  in  methods  of  thinking,  but 
on  a  difference  in  the  purpose  of  utterance.  As  this 
manual  is  meant  to  give  practice  in  the  essential 
processes,  not  in  their  use  toward  special  purposes, 
the  theoretical  discussion  of  description,  narration, 
etc.,  has  been  intentionally  omitted.  The  author  be- 
lieves, however,  that  the  foundation  principles  of  each 
form  of  discourse  are  inevitably  contained  in  the 
simple  foundations  of  clear  thinking,  and  that  pupils 
who  acquire  method  in  thinking  will  naturally  make 
application  of  this  method  to  particular  purposes  as 
they  find  themselves  confronted  with  particular  prob- 
lems involving  such  application;  see  text  passim. 

Nor  has  sentence  form  or  the  choice  of  words  been 
treated  formally  or  explicitly;  for  each  is  most  seri- 
ously involved  in  the  statement  of  the  working- 
thought  as  insisted  on  in  this  manual,  and  each  will 
many  times  come  up  for  discussion  in  the  course  of 
conference,  criticism,  and  direction.  Therefore,  al- 
though they  are  not  formally  presented  here,  they  are 
always  immediately  involved;  and  for  the  student 
who  has  reached  only  the  half-way  post  in  composi- 
tion, this  may  produce  better  results  than  a  detailed 
treatment.  However  that  be,  the  author  has  found 
that  young  persons,  when  once  they  begin  to  com- 
mand their  ideas,  reveal  the  possession  of  a  more 
comprehensive  and  accurate  vocabulary  and  a  power 
of  effective  simple  sentence  structure,  such  as  he 
would  before  scarcely  have  expected. 


6  THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

THE  AUTHOR'S  METHOD  WITH  THE  BOOK 

Others  who  use  this  book  may  care  to  know  the 
plan  according  to  which  it  is  used  by  its  author.  This 
plan  is  very  simple. 

1.  Every  student  is  held  responsible  for  knowledge, 
to  be  shown  in  oral  or  written  recitation,  of  the  sub- 
stance of  each  section  and  its  notes.     In  view  of  the 
condensed  presentation  made,  and  of  the  accuracy 
of  phrasing  attempted  in  the  explanations,  verbatim 
repetition  is  advisable. 

2.  Every  student  must  have  a  loose-leaf  notebook. 
In  this  he  keeps  all  his  exercises,  in  order  that  they 
may  be  referred  to  at  any  time. 

3.  Themes  are  not  treated  as  manual  exercises, 
except  that  the  working-thought  of  every  theme  must 
be  stated  at  the  head  of  the  paper.     It  is  convenient, 
however,  to  have  the  returned  themes  kept  by  the 
student  in  his  notebook,  but  separate  from  the  manual 
exercises. 

4.  The  work  of  the  year  is  laid  out  in  advance. 
Time  spent  on  manual  exercises  is  treated  as  labora- 
tory time.      Hence  two  hours  spent  in  getting  up 
manual  work,   either  in  or  outside  the   classroom, 
counts  as  one  hour  of  recitation  and  credit.     It  is  not 
advisable  to  have  students  spend  much  more  than 
four  hours  a  week  on  manual  work,  two  of  which 
should  be  spent  in  the  classroom. 

5.  In  the  classroom,  from  five  to  fifteen  minutes 
are  occupied  by  oral  or  written  recitation.     If  the 


FOREWORD  7 

recitation  is  written,  the  writing  is  done  on  a  sheet  in 
the  notebook.  Immediately  thereafter,  the  students 
are  set  the  day's  exercise.  Nearly  always  this  is  done 
in  the  notebook,  although  at  times  blackboard  work 
is  better.  Through  the  period,  the  instructor  is  on 
the  floor,  inspecting  the  written  recitation,  the  note- 
book exercises  done  outside  the  classroom,  and  the 
exercise  then  going  on.  If  the  classes  are  not  too 
large,  the  instructor  is  able  thus  to  come  into  personal 
conference  with  every  student  at  every  recitation; 
to  give  him  individual  advice;  to  estimate  the  grade 
quality  of  his  work  and  his  personality,  and  the 
quality  of  his  individual  effort;  and  in  this  way  also 
to  lessen  somewhat  the  necessity  of  excessive  theme 
correction  outside  of  class.  This  last  result  is  easier 
to  attain  if  the  themes  are  bound  in  the  notebooks. 

6.  At  the  end  of  the  period,  an  advance  assignment 
in  the  manual  is  made.     The  student  prepares  this 
outside  and  presents  it  in  his  notebook  at  the  next 
meeting. 

7.  If  the  classroom  period  is  not  long  enough  for 
the  completion  of  the  exercise,  the  instructor  uses  his 
judgment  about  requiring  this  exercise  to  be  com- 
pleted outside.     It  frequently  happens  that  the  class- 
room exercise  does  not  require  the  full  time.     The 
student  can  turn  back  and  finish  earlier  exercises. 

8.  Two  or  three  themes,  quite  distinct  from  the 
manual    exercises,    are    required    each    week.     Cor- 
rected themes   are  returned  to  the  students  at  a 
separate  meeting  of  the  class.     At  this  meeting,  each 


8  THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

student  is  usually  asked  tojrewrite  one  of  his  themes, 
either  (a)  in  accordance  with  specific  directions  or 
(6)  in  accordance  with  a  different  plan  and  method 
to  be  determined  by  him.  In  this  period,  as  before, 
the  instructor  is  among  the  men,  commenting  and 
advising, 

9.  For  supplementary  treatment  of  compositional 
principles,  for  illustrative  extracts,  and  for  collateral 
reference,  an  ordinary  textbook,  or  several  such  books, 
prove  helpful.  For  instance,  the  time  comes  when 
students  are  naturally  directed  to  do  mainly  descrip- 
tive writing  in  their  themes.  They  are  then  given 
assignments  on  description  in  the  collateral  textbooks. 


TO  THE  STUDENT 

The  man  who  succeeds  must  think,  and  the  man 
who  thinks  must  get  his  thought  clear  in  his  own  mind. 
To  define  his  thought  clearly  to  himself,  he  must  put 
it  accurately  into  words  —  language.  To  use  lan- 
guage accurately,  he  must  learn  what  words  mean  — 
words  individually,  words  brought  together  in  phrases 
and  sentences,  and  words  in  sentences  brought  to- 
gether in  still  larger  groups:  paragraphs,  speeches, 
books.  To  learn  this,  he  must  practise  the  using  of 
words;  and  words  are  used  most  carefully  and  pre- 
cisely in  writing.  Therefore,  the  man  who  would 
think  needs  thorough  exercise  in  writing. 

But  a  man  cannot  write  without  thinking.  To 
learn  to  write  is  to  learn  to  think;  and  to  learn  to 
think  is  vastly  to  increase  one's  chances  of  success. 
Hence  no  man  who  is  in  earnest  about  developing  his 
mental  powers,  whether  for  their  own  sake  or  for  the 
worldly  success  they  may  win  him,  will  be  strongly 
tempted  to  slight  his  English  composition. 

This  (therefore)  is  the  best  reason  for  studying 
composition  —  that  it  helps  and  forces  one  to  think. 
Every  other  reason  is  of  less  importance  than  this, 
and  against  it  no  convincing  objection  can  be  made. 

If,  for  instance,  we  assume  (as  some  students  do) 
that  " English"  is  taught  mainly  to  make  students  into 

9 


10         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

great  writers,  we  imagine  a  vain  thing.  Great  writers 
must  be  born  before  they  can  be  made,  and  in  college 
or  out,  few  have  been  so  blessed  in  their  nativity. 
Yet  even  the  great-writer-to-be  needs  to  practise  the 
handling  of  ideas.  If  the  study  of  composition  is 
good  for  him,  much  better  is  it  for  the  man  less  gifted 
naturally. 

Or  if  we  think  that  composition  is  taught  mainly 
to  prepare  men  to  earn  their  living  by  the  pen,  we 
err.  True,  there  was  never  a  time  before  when  every 
man  was  so  likely  to  need  ability  to  put  into  words 
what  he  knows  or  believes,  or  could  so  readily  find 
a  market  for  ideas  couched  in  words.  Yet  even  now 
many  a  man  who  most  needs  the  discipline  of  think- 
ing may  never  speak  in  public  or  write  for  the  public. 
But  he  can  never  escape  the  need  of  thinking,  both 
for  himself  and  at  least  indirectly  for  the  public. 

Yet  again,  if  we  imagine  composition  to  be  taught 
primarily  to  cultivate  refinement  of  speech,  we  err  a 
third  time.  Fine  language  without  fit  thought  or 
feeling  is  worth  no  more  than  any  other  frippery. 
Finished  language  is  worth  striving  for  through  years; 
but  it  is  the  finished  language  that  results  from  fine 
qualities  of  heart  and  mind  disciplined  and  developed 
until  they  reveal  themselves  inevitably  in  our  words, 
whether  written  or  spoken.  It  is  refinement  of  mind 
and  spirit  that  produces  refinement  of  speech;  and 
men  of  high  ideals  and  sound  judgment  pursue  the 
substance,  not  the  shadow  —  strive  for  the  develop- 
ment of  njind  and  spirit,  not  for  the  acquirement  of 


TO  THE  STUDENT  11 

the  velvet  gown  of  pretentious  language  in  which  the 
intellectual  and  moral  beggar  often  clothes  himself. 
As  the  beggar  parades  into  the  city  of  Things-that-are- 
worth-while,  he  is  badly  mistaken  in  imagining  (be- 
cause the  little  dogs  do  bark  at  him)  that  he  is  making 
an  impression  on  the  People-who-know-what's-what. 
It  is  not  to  acquire  fine  language  that  the  sensible  man 
studies  English,  but  to  acquire  fine  thought;  and  fine 
thought  is  fit  thought,  clear  thought,  accurate  thought, 
and  true  thought.  A  man  might  well  show  good  sense 
in  refusing  to  spend  time  on  a  study  that  aimed  at 
nothing  beyond  mere  skill  in  wordiness,  but  it  cer- 
tainly would  not  be  good  sense  that  he  showed  if  he 
rejected  a  study  that  produces  continual  growth  of 
mental  —  and  indeed  of  spiritual  —  power. 

We  might  go  on;  but  whatever  the  point  of  view 
from  which  we  considered  the  study  of  composition, 
we  should  find  its  purpose  always  the  same:  to  dis- 
cipline us  to  think.  And  this  purpose  is  indisputably 
one  of  the  great  purposes,  if  not  the  one  great  purpose, 
of  education. 

But  how  shall  one  learn  to  think?  By  thinking  — 
as  by  swimming,  one  learns  to  swim;  by  pitching  a 
ball,  to  pitch;  by  riding  a  horse,  to  ride;  and  by 
working,  to  work.  Nor  is  it  harder  to  think  well  than 
it  is  to  swim  well  or  to  pitch  well.  The  governing 
principles  of  any  science  or  art,  of  any  profession  or 
trade  or  game,  are  alike  comparatively  few  and  sim- 
ple; their  intricacy  lies  in  the  innumerable  ways  in 
which  they  can  be  applied.  It  follows,  that  skill  con- 


12         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

sists  in  knowing  the  fundamental  principles  and  in 
being  able  to  adapt  them  to  the  needs  of  the  moment. 
In  other  words,  skill  grows  from  practice  —  from 
much  practice  —  in  applying  the  simple,  basic  prin- 
ciples, or  theory;  from  practising  what  we  know. 
The  theory,  we  learn;  the  skill,  we  acquire;  and  skill 
is  merely  the  ability  to  make  use  of  our  general 
knowledge  of  a  subject  in  varied  particular  cases  as 
they  arise. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  manual,  all  these  con- 
siderations have  been  kept  in  mind.  The  aim  of  all 
its  explanations,  outlines,  directions,  and  exercises  is 
to  make  possible  for  the  student  to  develop  for  him- 
self skill  in  thinking.  It  is  a  practice-book  rather 
than  a  theory-book.  True,  it  contains  (directly 
stated  or  necessarily  implied)  all  the  fundamental 
theory  of  ordinary  thinking,  including  utterance  of 
the  thought.  But  this  theory  is  not  presented  for  the 
sake  of  the  theory;  it  is  presented  for  the  sake  of  the 
practice;  and  it  is  put  mostly  in  the  form  of  precept, 
direction,  example,  and  formula,  in  order  that  the 
student  may  see  more  clearly  what  the  principle  is 
and  how  he  is  to  make  use  of  it.  Nevertheless,  the 
fact  that  the  book  is  a  practice-book  does  not  remove 
it  from  the  class  of  study-books.  The  man  who 
undertakes  to  do  the  practice  without  doing  the  study 
also  will  be  exceedingly  impractical  and  unwise.  His 
equation  will  not  work.  Skill  =  knowledge  +  prac- 
tice. But  knowledge  =  theory  +  study.  If  there  is 
to  be  any  know-how,  there  must  also  be  know-what. 


TO  THE  STUDENT  13 

We  may,  then,  in  ordinary  language  speak  of  our 
manual  and  our  study  of  composition  as  an  introduc- 
tion to  the  everyday-useful  methods  of  thought- 
building.  They  are  just  that.  Not  a  man  reciting 
in  any  class  in  school  or  college  but  uses  these  proc- 
esses —  and  needs  to  use  them  skillfully.  Not  a  man 
talking  with  a  classmate  —  whether  about  philosophy 
or  fraternity,  art  or  athletics,  Divinity  or  dining-hall 
—  but  employs  them,  and  would  wish  to  employ 
them  well.  Not  a  man  who,  college  days  past,  finds 
himself  engaged  in  the  hard,  necessary  work  of  mak- 
ing a  living  and  —  perhaps  —  in  sustaining  the  great 
ideals  of  the  race,  but  in  the  thinking  on  which  his 
success  or  failure  much  depends,  uses  just  these  simple, 
fundamental  processes  —  the  homely  methods  of  our 
daily  thought  and  speech. 

We  are,  therefore,  not  dealing  with  an  abstract, 
far-away,  non-practical  subject;  we  are  dealing  with 
a  subject  so  concrete  that  some  principle  of  it  is  in- 
volved every  time  we  think  or  speak,  and  so  closely 
allied  with  daily  life  that  we  could  not  get  away  from 
it  if  we  tried.  Whatever  our  state  in  life,  whatever 
our  fortunes,  whatever  our  trade  or  profession,  we  use 
the  same  simple,  everyday,  common-sense  processes 
of  thinking  and  uttering.  This  we  cannot  help.  But 
whether  we  use  them  well  or  ill,  skillfully  or  blunder- 
ingly, effectually  or  ineffectually,  depends  on  us,  and 
on  no  one  else.  If  we  are  men  enough,  we  can  train 
ourselves  to  correct  thinking  and  effective  utterance, 
as  we  can  also  train  ourselves  to  correct  walking  and 


14         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

right  breathing;  but  whether  a  man  does  so,  or  fails 
to  do  so,  depends  largely  on  one  thing:  whether  he  be 
resolute,  determined,  and  self-reliant,  or  be  lacking 
in  the  resolution,  persistence,  and  personal  application 
that  are  necessary  to  achievement.  For  neither  class- 
mate nor  teacher  can  help  him  much  in  the  part  of  his 
work  that  is  hardest  and  yet  of  greatest  benefit  —  the 
doing  of  the  work  itself.  It  is  each  man  for  himself 
who  must  carry  the  work  through.  The  way  to  learn 
to  think  is  to  think;  and  thinking  —  like  eating  and 
love-making  —  cannot  be  done  by  proxy.  Each  man's 
success  and  failure  depends  on  him  alone.  In  learn- 
ing, as  in  life,  we  can  be  the  master  of  our  fate. 

Let  us,  therefore,  fix  in  mind  the  purpose  of  practice 
and  study  in  English  —  the  practice  and  study  of 
thought-management,  of  the  building  up  and  under- 
standing, and  of  the  expression  of  thought  in  words; 
namely:  — 

Such  study,  as  we  said,  is  of  great  importance  to  the 
man  of  literary  gifts;  but  we  are  not  pursuing  it  for 
this  reason,  although  every  lesson  in  it,  well  learned, 
will  develop  literary  sense  and  power.  It  is  of  equally 
great  value  to  the  man  who  expects  to  become  a 
professional  or  semi-professional  writer  —  a  reporter, 
editor,  advertising  man,  magazine  writer,  compiler, 
lecturer,  correspondence  manager,  bulletin  writer,  or 
writer  of  scientific  articles,  whether  technical  or  popu- 
lar; but  we  are  not  pursuing  it  for  this  reason,  although 
every  lesson  in  it,  well  learned,  will  necessarily  help 
to  prepare  the  student  for  such  work  if  he  should 


TO  THE  STUDENT  15 

chance  to  undertake  it.  Yet  again,  it  is  of  the  greatest 
value  in  polishing  language,  thus  giving  one  outward 
culture,  refinement,  finish;  but  neither  is  this  the 
main  reason  for  pursuing  it.  The  main  reason  is, 
that  it  deals  with  thought,  disciplines  the  mind,  de- 
velops and  cultivates  the  man  himself  by  cultivating 
and  developing  his  most  useful,  most  needful,  most 
noble  powers;  that  it  helps  him  to  attain  control 
of  the  faculties  most  indispensable  to  a  successful 
life  (which  means  some  worldly  prosperity,  constant 
mental  activity,  and  spiritual  elevation).  But  with 
each  man,  its  purpose  will  be  accomplished  only 
through  his  own  resolute  and  persistent  application 
—  even,  if  the  need  be,  to  the  extent  of  seeming  drudg- 
ery. The  drudgery  ends,  but  the  results  increase 
from  year  to  year. 


I.   GENERAL  PRINCIPLES 
A.    WHOLE  COMPOSITION  AND  PARAGRAPH 

I.   Composition;  paragraph  and  whole  composition. 

-  By  composition  we  here  mean  any  piece  of  writing 
extended  enough  to  embody  a  main  thought,  and  such 
subordinate  ideas  and  thoughts  as  must  be  taken  to- 
gether to  constitute  this  more  complex  head  thought. 
It  is  called  a  composition  because  it  brings  together 
these  less  complex  ideas  and  thoughts  in  order  through 
them  to  express  the  larger  one;  the  word  "  composi- 
tion "  coming  from  a  Latin  term  that  -means  "  to  place 
together/7 

As  the  expression  of  each  of  these  subordinate  facts 
frequently  requires  a  clause,  a  sentence,  or  a  group 
of  sentences,  it  follows  that  a  composition  as  always 
more  than  a  sentence;  a  paragraph  is  the  shortest 
piece  of  writing  that,  in  this  sense,  can  be  called  a 
composition.  By  paragraph  we  commonly  mean  any 
piece  of  writing  extended  enough  to  be  called  a  com- 
position, yet  not  so  long  that,  when  written  or  printed 
on  the  page,  it  needs  to  be  divided  into  parts  in  order 
to  make  it  more  clear  or  emphatic.  (The  name 
"  paragraph "  is  applied  arbitrarily  to  some  very 
short  specialized  divisions  of  compositions;  but  at 
present  we  need  not  long  concern  ourselves  with  these. 
See  questions  5,  6,  7,  set  i.) 

16 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  17 

By  whole  composition  we  mean  any  piece  of  writing 
consisting  of  two  or  more  paragraphs  that  have  to  do 
with  the  central  thought,  or  topic,  in  the  same  general 
way. 

Note:  According  to  this  definition,  a  single  chapter  in  a  book, 
or  a  single  section  in  a  chapter,  may  be  deemed  a  whole  com- 
position. So  in  a  larger  sense  may  the  book  itself.  An  editorial 
article,  or  a  magazine  article  or  story,  is  likewise  a  whole  com- 
position. But  in  this  book  we  shall  nearly  always  have  in  mind 
whole  compositions  less  than  1000  words  long,  consisting  there- 
fore of  a  comparatively  small  number  of  paragraphs  —  perhaps 
six  or  eight  at  most. 

i.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  I 

1.  Look  up  in  dictionaries  and  encyclopedias  all  the  meanings 
you  can  find  for  "composition";    come  to  class  prepared  to 
explain  them  orally  or  in  writing. 

2.  Select  and  bring  to  class  for  discussion  five  good  examples 
of  whole  composition.    Examine  newspapers,  magazines,   and 
books,  choosing  compositions  of  length  ranging  from  that  of 
the  very  short  article  up  to  that  of  chapters  or  even  books  in 
some  volume  that  you  are  acquainted  with.     Make  sure  that 
each  specimen  is  complete  in  itself. 

3.  Compare  some  of  these  whole  compositions  with  writings 
that  are  not  whole  compositions,  and  set  down  briefly  a  state- 
ment of  the  things  wherein  you  find  whole  compositions  to  differ 
essentially  from  part  compositions. 

4.  In  some  current  magazine  or  in  a  current  novel,  find  some 
passages  of  dialog.     Account  for  the  paragraphing. 

5.  See  the  department  headed  "Topics  in  Brief,"  that  is 
usually  run  in  each  issue  of  "The  Literary  Digest."     News- 
paper men  call  these  quips  "paragraphs,"  and  newspapers  pay 
good  paragraphers   well.    In  what  sense  are  such   pieces  of 
writing  paragraphs? 


18         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

6.  Write  10  "paragraphs"  of  the  sort  referred  to  in  question 
5.    Base  them  on  news  items  in  the  daily  paper,  or  on  incidents 
of  recent  occurrence  in  the  school  or  town.    If  they  are  based 
on  something  not  generally  known,  make  them  self-explanatory. 

7.  Study  the  paragraphs  referred  to  in  question  5,  and  make 
up  your  mind  how  much  they  owe  their  life  and  force  to  careful 
sentence-building  and  to  careful  choosing  of  words.     Be  prepared 
to  discuss  this  question,  supporting  your  opinion  by  citing  apt 
examples  of  such  paragraphs. 

II.  Unity.  —  All  the  divisions  of  a  composition  have 
to  do  closely  with  the  central  thought  in  the  same  general 
way.  Therefore,  all  the  paragraphs  in  a  whole  com- 
position must  have  to  do  closely  in  the  same  general  way 
with  the  same  topic  thought.  When  they  do  so,  the 
composition  is  said  to  have  unity. 

Note  1 :  Every  paragraph  in  the  composition  must  help  either: 

a.  To  explain  what  the  topic  thought  is;  or 

b.  To  prove  it;  or 

c.  To  convey  additional  information  about  it;  or 

d.  In  some  other  way  to  make  us  keep  it  in  mind  and  com- 

prehend it  more  fully. 

Both  before  and  after  writing  a  paragraph,  stop  to 
ask  yourself  what  important  portion  of  the  central 
thought  (topic  thought)  it  establishes;  if  it  does  not 
helpfully  develop  or  make  clear  some  such  part,  either 
reject  it  wholly  or  restate  it  so  that  it  shall  establish 
some  definite  portion  of  the  topic  thought.  See  V. 

Note  2:  All  that  is  here  said  about  paragraphs,  in  the  whole 
composition,  applies  also  to  the  sentences  that,  either  singly  or  in 
groups,  make  up  the  individual  paragraphs;  for  within  the  para- 
graph there  are  divisions,  exactly  as  there  are  in  other  compositions. 
These  divisions  may  consist  (a)  either  of  a  single  sentence,  or 
even  part  of  a  sentence,  (6)  or  of  several  sentences  together. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  19 


2.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  II 

1.  State  in  a  single  sentence,  but  completely,  the  central 
thought,  or  idea,  of  each  specimen  selected  under  question  1, 
set  i. 

2.  Test  for  unity  each  of  the  whole  compositions  selected 
under  question  1,  set  i.     In  doing  this,  determine  and  state 
whether  the  paragraphs,  taken  singly,  help  (a)  to  explain  what 
is  the  central  thought,  or  (6)  to  prove  this  thought,  or  (c)  to  con- 
vey additional  information  about  it,  or  (d)  to  make  us  in  some 
other  way  comprehend  it  more  fully.     If  the  last  be  the  case, 
explain  how  each  one  helps  toward  this  fuller  comprehension. 
If  any  part  of  the  composition  fails  to  do  one  of  these  things, 
that  part  has  no  rightful  place  in  the  composition. 

3.  State  what  part  of  the  central  thought  each  paragraph 
helps  to  establish.     (A  few  paragraphs  taken  separately  will  be 
enough  from  the  long  selections.) 

4.  How  would  you  need  to  treat  the  composition  in  omitting 
this  part?     Rewrite  it  accordingly. 

5.  Put  together  the  parts  of  each  of  the  central  thoughts  as 
they  are  included  in  the  statements  arrived  at  under  question  3. 
Compare  the  resulting  statement  with  your  original  statement 
of  the  same  central  thought  (question  1,  set  2).     Ask  yourself:  — 

a.  If  these  parts,  taken  together,  represent  all  of  the  cen- 

tral thought.  If  they  do  not  completely  cover  this 
thought,  analyze  each  paragraph  anew  to  see  whether 
you  have  not  overlooked  essential  matter  in  your 
statement  of  its  relation  to  the  central  thought. 

b.  If  these  parts  state  more  than  the  central  thought  seems 

to  contain.  If  they  do,  revise  your  statement  of  the 
latter,  making  it  broad  enough  to  cover  all  the  thought 
contained  in  the  composition. 

6.  Repeat  exercise  5  with  other  of  your   statements;    or, 
selecting  other  short  compositions,  state  the  central  thought  of 
each,  testing  your  statement  by  analysis  as  before. 


20         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

7.  Think  over  these  three  terms:  " unity  of  matter,"  " unity 
of  impression,"  "unity  of  language."  Explain  them  as  well  as 
you  can.  In  a  piece  of  writing,  would  any  one  of  these  kinds  of 
unity  be  dependent  on  the  other  kinds?  Explain. 

III.  Subject  and  topic.  —  Every  composition  con- 
cerns a  central  thought  (topic  thought).  This  topic 
is  not  the  same  as  the  subject.  The  subject  is  that 
general  thing  about  which  one  has  something  to  say; 
the  topic  is  the  particular  thing  that  one  has  definitely 
to  say  about  this  subject. 

Note  1:  Subjects  are  always  indicated  by  more  or  less  gen- 
eral TERMS:  war;  eating;  the  value  of  sleep.  But  topics  are 
definitely  stated  THOUGHTS  about  subjects:  war  is  unnecessary; 
eating  can  be  made  to  afford  refined  enjoyment;  the  value  of  sleep 
lies  in  the  opportunity  it  gives  brain  and  body  to  rebuild.  Each  of 
these  is  a  definitely  stated  thought  about  the  subject,  and  there- 
fore is  a  topic. 

Note  2:  A  topic  is  always  a  thought,  hence  it  will  always  be 
expressed  in  a  sentence,  not  in  a  single  word  or  a  phrase  (note  1 
shows  that  the  word  or  phrase  is  the  proper  form  of  expression 
for  a  subject;  for  the  subject  is  an  idea,  or  "concept,"  but  the 
topic  is  a  thought). 

Note  3 :  Since  the  topic-statement  is  the  assertion  of  a  thought, 
it  will  naturally  be  expressed  in  a  declarative  sentence. 

Note  4:  Moreover,  because  the  topic  asserts  a  thought  about 
the  subject,  the  name  of  this  subject  will  naturally  appear  as  the 
subject  of  this  declarative  sentence.1 

i  It  is  worth  while  to  adhere  closely  to  this  dictum.  It  represents 
sound  logic,  and  departure  from  the  practice  here  advised  is  likely 
to  lead  to  complete,  even  though  unnoticed,  shifting  of  the  subject. 
For  example:  Assume  the  subject  to  be  wealth.  Then,  in  "The 
prince  was  ruined  by  wealth,"  "wealth"  is  no  longer  the  main  idea 
with  which  the  assertion  is  concerned;  that  importance  has  been 
usurped  by  "prince."  Unless  watched,  young  writers  will  frequently 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  21 

Note  5:  Because  the  topic  is  the  writer's  guide,  it  should  always 
be  very  precisely  and  fully  worded  in  his  mind  and  then  set 
down  in  writing  before  he  undertake  to  put  his  notes  and  ideas 
together  into  a  composition.  In  this  full  and  precise  form,  it  is 
called  the  WORKING-THOUGHT.  In  the  compositions  for  this  class, 
the  working-thought  should  be  written  down  at  the  head  of  every 
paper  and  outline,  immediately  after  the  title,  and  separate  from 
the  composition  that  follows.  The  management  of  the  working- 
thought  is  more  fully  explained  in  Section  VIII. 

Note  6:  Subjects  may  be  "large"  or  "small,"  "broad"  or 
"narrow."  A  large  or  broad  subject  is  one  that  has  not  been 
much  limited,  or  "narrowed  down."  For  paragraphs  and  short 
papers,  limited  or  narrowed  subjects  are  likely  to  be  better  than 
unrestricted  subjects;  but  it  frequently  happens  that  the  fully 
stated  topic  contains  the  limitation  of  the  subject  that  is  necessary 
to  adapt  it  to  treatment  in  a  short  paper,  as  here :  — 

Subject:  Smoking. 

Topic  thought  and  limitation:  Smoking  became  known  to 
Europeans  in  the  sixteenth  century.  (Observe  that  this  topic 
thought  corresponds  to  the  phrase,  "  the  introduction  of  smok- 
ing," which  would  serve  as  a  limited  subject.) 

Subject  in  limited  or  restricted  forms:  Smoking  as  a  pas- 
time; smoking  by  women;  smoking  in  the  street  cars;  opium 
smoking;  smoking  that  relieves  a  cold;  smoking  (that  is  done) 
about  the  camp  fire.  (State  topics  in  which  the  restrictive  part 
of  these  subjects  shall  be  transferred  to  the  predicate.) 

shift  their  thought  thus.  It  is  also  best  to  keep  the  grammatical 
subject  of  the  declarative  sentence  in  unaltered  form  if  possible. 
These  two  assertions,  "The  pursuit  of  wealth  has  ruined  princes"  and 
"Wealth  has  ruined  princes,"  are  essentially  different  propositions. 
If  any  departure  from  the  rule  be  made,  extreme  care  should  be 
exercised  to  keep  the  logical  subject  prominent;  it  should  have  the 
leading  place  in  the  thought,  even  though  it  do  not  occupy  the  chief 
grammatical  position.  Especially  should  the  name  of  the  subject 
be  kept  as  the  grammatical  subject.  If  qualifying  ideas  be  coupled 
with  it,  they  should  be  appended  as  adjective  modifiers;  thus: 
"Wealth  as  an  object  of  pursuit  has  ruined  princes."  Compare  note  6. 


22         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

Note  7:  Let  the  student  fix  in  mind  the  important  fact,  that 
in  a  restricted  subject  the  restrictive  part  ought  always  to  be  some 
kind  of  adjective  qualifier  (see  the  examples  above).  By  observ- 
ing this  principle,  he  will  safeguard  himself  against  losing  sight 
of  the  true  subject.  (To  teachers:  On  such  forms  as  "  opium 
smoking,"  see  Sweet's  "New  English  Grammar,"  Pt.  I,  sec. 
173.) 

Note  8:  The  title  is  merely  the  name  one  chooses  for  his  com- 
position. It  may  and  it  may  not  express  the  topic  or  the  sub- 
ject clearly,  though  it  should  usually  at  least  hint  what  the 
subject  is.  Titles  should  be  made  as  interesting  as  they  can  be 
without  rendering  them  incongruous  (the  title  should  always 
be  in  keeping  with  the  character  of  the  composition). 

3.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  III 

1.  Tell  which  of  these  are  subjects  and  which  are  topics: 

a.  Being  afraid  in  the  dark. 

b.  Sickness  is  an  unnecessary  evil. 

c.  Glorious  sport. 

d.  Ski-ing  as  a  sport. 

e.  How  Henry  won  his  medal.1 

/.  Mary's  bravery  fooled  a  burglar. 

g.  John  won  the  game  by  making  a  daring  run. 

h.  Birds  fly  by  pushing  against  the  air. 

i.  Why  write  poorly?  l 

j.  Grammar  and  its  uses. 

k.  We  learn  to  spell  by  noticing  how  every  unfamiliar 
word  is  spelled. 

1  These  are  not  complete  assertions,  (e)  contains  no  hint  how 
Henry  won  his  medal ;  (i)  tells  nothing  of  the  why  of  the  poor  writing. 
Therefore,  if  such  forms  be  accepted  at  all  as  topic  assertions,  they 
should  be  accepted  only  after  a  specific  indication  of  the  why  or  the  how 
has  been  added.  For  example,  (e)  when  completed  might  read:  How 
Henry  won  his  medal :  by  saving  a  little  Italian  boy  from  drowning. 
But  the  simpler  and  better  form  is:  Henry  won  his  medal  by  saving 
a  little  Italian  boy  from  drowning. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  23 

I.    A  treacherous  fountain  pen. 
m.  The  view  from  the  dome. 
n.   Making  lead  pencils. 
o.   One  objection  to  study. 

2.  Turn  all  the  topics  in  the  list  given  above  into  subjects, 
and  all  the  subjects  into  topics. 

3.  Turn  all  the  subjects  into  more  limited  subjects.    To 
illustrate:    The  subject  " paper"  may  be  turned  into  " brown 
paper";  this  in  turn  may  be  limited  to  ''brown  paper  in  its 
making";  and  this  again  to  " brown  paper  in  its  making  at  a 
mill  known  to  the  writer."     Such  limiting  may  be  continued 
until  a  subject  sufficiently  restricted  to  permit  of  treatment  in 
the  proposed  space  is  reached.     But  these  limited  subjects  are 
strictly  subjects,  not  topics.     The  most  restricted  subject  given 
above  may,  for  example,  be  made  into  a  topic  by  adding  some 
assertion;    as,   " Brown  paper  in  its  making  at  the  mill  goes 
through  this  peculiar  process;  namely"  [complete  the  assertion]. 

4.  In  the  following  topic  assertions,  are  the  names  of  all  the 
rhetorical   (logical)   subjects  used  also  as  the  subjects  of  the 
sentences?     If  not,  are  they  made  so  prominent  that  they  never- 
theless get  our  attention,  although  not  standing  as  the  gram- 
matical subjects? 

A. 

a.  The  processes  in  the  making  of  brown  paper  are  these; 

viz.,  —  (compare  the  topic  assertion  in  note  3). 

b.  In  its  manufacture, .  brown  paper  goes  through  these 

processes;  viz., 

c.  The  mills  use  a  peculiar  process  in  making  brown  paper; 

viz., 

B 

d.  Exercise  is  necessary  to  preserve  one's  health. 

e.  Health  can  be  preserved  by  taking  exercise. 

/.    The  preservation  of  the  health  calls  for  exercise. 
g.   Exercise  is  important  because  it  preserves  the  health. 
h.  The  importance  of  preserving  the  health  leads  us  to  take 
exercise. 


24        THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

C 

i.    America  is  mainly  an  industrial  nation. 

j.    Industrial  affairs  are  the  chief  American  pursuit. 

k.   The  pursuit  of  industry  occupies  Americans  more  than 

does  anything  else. 
I.    The  complete  occupation  of  the  American  in  industrial 

affairs  makes  him  a  practical  man. 

D 

m.  "Dry  farming "  has  redeemed  the  arid  West. 
n.  The  arid  portion  of  the  West  has  become  fruitful  through 

"dry  farming." 
o.    The  value  of  "dry  farming"  is  shown  by  the  change  it 

has  made  in  the  arid  regions  of  the  West. 
p.  The  change  made  in  the  regions  of  the  arid  West  by 

means  of  "dry  farming"  shows  how  even  the  most 

adverse  conditions  can  be  overcome. 

E 

q.   Persia  has  many  rose  gardens. 

r.    The  rose  gardens  that  abound  in  Persia  give  color, 

delicacy,  and  beauty  to  outdoor  life, 
s.    Rose  gardens  such  as  abound  in  Persia  are  common  in 

Spain,  but  quite  lack  the  oriental  effect  they  have  in 

the  older  country. 
t.    Spain,  like  Persia,  has  many  rose  gardens;    but  they 

quite  lose  the  oriental  effect  they  have  in  the  older 

country. 

5.  Show  that  each  topic-statement  as  worded  in  the  groups 
above  expresses  a  thought  that  is  essentially  different  from  the 
other  thoughts  expressed  in  the  same  group. 

6.  Reword  the  topic-statements  in  (4)  whenever  this  seems 
necessary  to  bring  the  rhetorical  subject  into  the  position  of  the 
grammatical  subject  also.     (The  "rhetorical  subject"  is  the  sub- 
ject of  the  composition;  the  "grammatical  subject"  is  the  sub- 
ject of  the  sentence.) 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  25 

7.  Reword   these   topic-statements   in   such   way   that   the 
present  grammatical  subject  shall  be  made  the  rhetorical  sub- 
ject.    Which  of  the  sentences  now  express  their  original  thought 
more  clearly  or  accurately  than  they  did  before? 

8.  Choose  an  article  from  one  of  the  current  magazines. 
From  this  article,  select  five  complete,  but  separate,  paragraphs. 
State  in  sentence  form  the  central  thought  of  each  paragraph 
separately. 

9.  Taking  the  paragraphs  one  by  one,  see  if  the  sentences 
they  contain  can  be  made  to  fall  into  groups.     Mark  off  these 
groups  within  the  paragraph,  and  show  what  part  of  the  central 
thought  each  group  concerns. 

10.  Bring  to  class  from  four  to  eight  clippings  or  extracts 
from  magazines,  newspapers,   or  books.     The  extracts  should 
not  be  more  than  three  or  four  paragraphs  long;    titles  should 
not  be  included.     Exchange  these  clippings  with  other  members 
of  the  class.     Each  pupil  is  now  to  find  three  good  titles  for  every 
extract  that  he  has  received. 

11.  Write  the  three  titles  of  an  extract  (10)  on  the  board; 
then  read  the  extract  to  the  class,  and  explain  what  makes  each 
of  your  titles  appropriate  to  the  composition.     After  this,  tell 
which  of  the  three  you  deem  best,  and  give  the  reasons  for  your 
judgment. 

12.  Each  pupil  will  bring  to  class  a  composition  of  his  own, 
without  title.     The  compositions  are  to  be  read  aloud,  the  class 
suggesting  titles. 

13-14.   Keep  a  record  of  fifteen  conversations  that  you  hear 
or  take  part  in.     Note  whether:  — 

a.  The  subjects  are  interesting. 

b.  The  subjects  are  unusual  or  are  common. 
*c.    Each  speaker  is  familiar  with  his  subject. 

'*d.  Any  of  the  speakers  who  appear  to  know  less  about  the 
subject  are  nevertheless  more  interesting  or  con- 
vincing than  other  speakers  who  know  more.  If  any 
are,  what  is  the  reason? 


26         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

*e.  The  speakers  talk  best  about  things  they  like,  or  about 
things  they  dislike.  If  they  seem  to  talk  poorly  about 
the  things  they  dislike,  observe  whether  they  really 
know  these  things  familiarly  enough  to  talk  about 
them. 

/.  Note  also  how  many  of  the  conversations  are  about 
games  and  amusements,  how  many  about  studies  and 
matters  of  culture,  how  many  about  questions  of  life 
and  the  best  way  of  living  it,  and  how  many  about 
matters  that  are  merely  personal;  — 

g.  How  many  speakers  gave  you  new  ideas  or  added  to 
your  previous  information;  — 

h.  How  many  intelligently  followed  a  continuous  course  of 
thought,  and  how  many  just  "said  things"  as  the 
things  "popped  into  their  heads." 

15,  16,  17.  As  the  teacher  directs,  write  themes  stating  and 
discussing  the  results  of  your  observations,  especially  those  based 
on  the  starred  directions. 

IV.  Units  of  thought.  —  Whole  compositions  con- 
sist of  two  or  more  closely  related  paragraphs.  Each 
of  these  paragraphs  represents  a  natural  division  —  one 
fraction  —  of  the  thought.  There  must,  then,  be  one 
paragraph  for  every  important  division  found  natu- 
rally in  the  main,  or  central,  thought.1  We  may  call 
these  natural  divisions  of  the  thought,  thought-blocks 

i  This  assertion  is  usually  true  of  whole  compositions  such  as  are 
commonly  written  in  high  school  or  lower  college  classes  (Section  I, 
note).  It  is  not  true  of  larger  compositions.  The  natural  divisions 
of  a  book,  for  example,  are  usually  chapters.  These  in  turn  may»  fall 
into  section  divisions.  But  the  sections  naturally  fall  into  paragraphs. 
It  is  true,  then,  that  the  paragraph  is  the  unit  of  thought  and  therefore 
the  unit  of  structure  —  the  smallest  complete  part  out  of  which  ex- 
tended discourse  can  be  built  up . 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  27 

or  units  of  thought.  The  writer  who  takes  the  trouble 
to  find  out,  first,  how  many  units  his  main  working- 
thought  is  composed  of,  and  second,  what  is  the 
working-thought  of  each  of  these  units,  or  thought-block 
divisions,  will  have  little  further  trouble  in  writing  a 
clear,  logical  composition. 

Note:  There  are  units  of  thought  in  paragraphs,  as  there  are 
in  whole  compositions.  In  a  paragraph,  the  unit  of  thought 
will  be  expressed  sometimes  in  a  single  sentence,  sometimes  in 
a  group  of  two  or  more  sentences.  Each  of  these  sentences  or 
sentence-groups  is  a  thought-Hock  within  its  paragraph.  Remem- 
ber this  important  fact. 

V.   Connectedness  of  thought  in  the  composition,  — 

All  the  paragraphs  in  a  composition  have  to  do  closely 
with  the  same  topic.  Every  paragraph,  therefore,  is 
connected  with  this  working-thought;  that  is,  it  must 
help  to  explain  it,  or  to  prove  it,  or  to  add  further 
necessary  information  about  it,  or  otherwise  to  give 
us  a  better  comprehension  of  it  (Section  II).  More- 
over, all  the  paragraphs  must  deal  with  the  working- 
thought  in  such  a  way  that,  taken  together ',  they  give 
us  a  complete  understanding  of  it  (Sections  II  and 
note;  IV).  Hence  the  various  thought-units  have 
also  a  very  close  connection  with  one  another.  If  a 
composition  have  not  been  planned  so  as  to  show 
continuously  this  coherence,  or  connectedness  of 
thought,  it  proves  a  failure.  It  proves  a  failure,  like- 
wise, if  it  have  not  been  so  expressed  as  to  make  this 
connectedness  of  the  thought  manifest.  The  usual 
name  for  this  connectedness  is  coherence. 


28        THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

Note  1:  It  is  just  as  important  that  the  thought  within  a  para- 
graph show  connectedness  as  it  is  that  the  thought  of  a  whole 
composition  be  coherent.  The  principle  applies  to  sentences 
likewise. 

Note  2:  Two  drafts  of  a  plan  on  the  same  topic  are  given 
below  to  illustrate  the  advantage  of  coherence  and  the  general 
method  by  which  it  may  be  secured. 

Subject:  The  collection  of  a  six-cent  fare  by  the  Valley  Trolley 
Company. 

Topic-thought:  The  collection  of  a  six-cent  fare  by  the  Valley 
Trolley  Company  is  unjust. 

Working-thought:  [to  be  supplied  by  the  student]. 
Incoherent  form: 

I.   Conditions  unchanged. 
II.   Cost  of  the  road. 
III.   Trolley  lines  in  the  region  chosen. 
Coherent  form: 

I.   Because  conditions  are  unchanged  and  a  five-cent 

fare  was  formerly  enough. 

II.   Because  the  cost  of  the  road  was  not  (as  the  Com- 
pany asserts)  unusually  great,  for  — 
a.   Though  the  River  Bridge  was  unusually  ex- 
pensive, yet 
6.   The    general    character    of    the    right-of-way 

made  construction  unusually  cheap. 
III.   Because  other  trolley  lines  operating  under  equiv- 
alent   conditions   make   a  profit   from   five-cent 
fares. 

In  the  first  outline,  the  incoherence  appears  to  be  in  the  statement  rather 
than  in  the  thought:  (1)  The  divisions  are  not  worded  definitely  enough  to 
amount  to  assertions.  (2)  They  are  not  worded  fully  enough  to  convey  any 
clear  meaning.  (3)  They  are  not  so  worded  as  to  show  any  connection  between 
them  and  the  topic-statement.  (4)  They  do  not  show  that  they  have  any 
logical  connection  one  with  another. 

On  the  contrary,  the  second  outline  is  coherently  expressed  throughout:  (1) 
Each  division  is  put  as  an  assertion.  (2)  Each  division  is  so  fully  expressed 
that  the  exact  thought  it  embodies  is  made  plain.  (3)  Each  division  is  so 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  29 

worded  as  to  show  the  connection  between  it  and  the  main  topic-statement. 
(4)  Each  division  is  plainly  shown  to  have  a  logical  connection  with  the  other 
divisions. 

A  rewording  seems,  therefore,  to  have  been  all  that  was  needed  to  give 
coherence  to  this  plan.  But  a  moment's  reflection  will  convince  one  that  some- 
thing more  than  a  mere  rewording  has  taken  place  in  the  making  of  the  second 
outline.  The  thought  had  to  be  cleared  up  and  made  definite  before  it  could  be 
definitely  stated,  and  the  connectedness  of  each  part  with  all  the  rest  had  to  be  clearly 
realized  before  it  could  be  clearly  shown.  Really t  then,  the  incoherence  of  the  first 
outline  was  the  result  of  jumbled,  blurred,  confused  thought;  and  the  coherence  of 
the  second  was  the  result  of  well-ordered,  clear-minded  thinking.  True,  the  in- 
coherence of  the  former  was  increased  because  a  slovenly  manner  of  thinking 
was  continued  in  a  lazy  manner  of  expression;  but  laziness  and  slovenliness  of 
mind  are  merely  other  names  for  incoherence. 

Note  3 :  The  following  paragraph  lacks  connectedness  of  lan- 
guage. Rewrite  it  carefully,  so  that  it  shall  clearly  show  forth 
the  coherence  of  the  thought. 

In  some  villages  they  [1]  used  to  have  cent  schools  [2].  If  the  child  lost  or 
forgot  his  cent,  there  was  much  trouble  [3]  for  him.  When  he  went  back  [4],  he 
got  scolded  there  as  well  as  at  school  [5].  One  cent  was  carried  every  day  [6]. 
The  littlest  children  went  [6-7],  and  this  [8]  paid  their  tuition  [6].  The  modern 
kindergarten  [9]  would  have  seemed  foolish  to  them  [1].  They  didn't  send 
children  to  school  to  play  [10],  but  to  work  [10].  They  [1]  had  to  do  all  sorts 
of  household  work. 

1.  Who?    Whom? 

2.  What  were  cent  schools?    What  was  the  cent  for? 

3.  What  kind  of  trouble?    Exactly  what  happened  to  him? 

4.  Back  where?    How  did  he  come  to  go  there?     When? 

5.  Is  the  order  right?     Where  was  he  first  scolded? 

6.  Does  this  fact  stand  in  the  right  part  of  the  paragraph? 
Does  the  sentence  clearly  express  the  meaning?     Recast  it. 

7.  Which  does   this  clause  mean:    "even  the  littlest"  or 
"only  the  littlest"? 

8.  What? 

9.  The  three  closing  sentences  form  a  new  division,  or  thought- 
block.     Is  the  connection  between  this  and  the  preceding  part 
of  the  paragraph  clear? 

10.  How  are  these  ideas  connected  with  the  idea  of  "kinder- 
garten" and  "cent  school"? 


30         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

4-5.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTIONS  IV-V 

1,  2,  3.  Select  three  long  paragraphs,  and  endeavor  to  break 
them  up  into  smaller  thought-blocks,  or  paragraphs.  The 
paragraphs  found  in  the  editorial  pages  of  The  Outlook  are 
suited  to  this  exercise,  but  examples  should  be  sought  elsewhere 
too;  for  instance,  in  Green's  " Short  History  of  the  English  Peo- 
ple," in  lesson  and  reading  books,  reviews,  magazines,  and 
newspapers.  Mark  the  thought-blocks. 

4,  5,  6.  Taking  a  chapter  of  the  "authorized  version"  of  the 
Bible  (the  teacher  will  assign  one),  group  the  verses  it  contains 
into  paragraphs,  each  paragraph  to  include  a  definite  part  of 
the  contents  of  the  chapter.  Among  the  chapters  that  may  be 
so  used  are:  Gen.  i,  vii.;  Exod.  x.;  Joshua  i,  ii.;  Ruth  i,  ii.; 
i  Kings  xvii;  ii  Chron.  ix,  xxxii;  Jere.  lii;  Math,  xxvii;  Mark  xi; 
Luke  ii  (as  far  as  verse  20),  xv;  Acts  xxvi,  xxvii;  Rev.  xxi. 
Do  the  same  with  an  editorial  article  from  one  of  Mr.  Hearst's 
papers  (The  Boston  American,  The  New  York  American  or 
Journal,  The  Chicago  Examiner,  or  the  San  Francisco  Examiner) . 

7.  In  the  light  of  Section  IV,  review  the  exercises  that  you 
did  under  set  2,  questions  3  and  4,  noting  the  function  of  each  of 
the  paragraphs  as  a  thought-unit. 

8.  Review  as  in  (7) :  note  the  connection  of  the  thought-blocks 
with  (a)  the  topic,  and  (6)  one  another. 

9.  Taking  one  of  the  selections  made  in  accordance  with  (1) 
above,  make  a  coherent  outline  like  the  coherent  outline  given 
in  Section  V,  note  2. 

10-14.  State  topics  as  follows  (it  is  permissible  to  limit  the 
subjects  further),  upon  the  subjects  here  listed: 

a.  Six  topics  of  three  divisions  each. 

b.  Six  topics  of  four  divisions  each. 

Subjects:  Mush;  milking  cows;  studying  history;  taking  a 
kodak  picture;  school  concerts;  psychology;  color-combinations 
in  girls'  costumes;  the  neatness  in  dress  shown  by  boys;  shoot- 
ing ducks;  loading  shot-gun  shells;  frying  beef-steak;  dropping 
(poaching)  eggs;  cooking  in  camp;  camp-life;  street  cleaners; 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  31 

mules  for  all-round  work;  motormen;  scissors  needed  in  home 
sewing;  pictures  that  are  suitable  for  a  girl's  room;  the  needed 
qualities  in  a  school  dress;  appropriate  hair  ribbons;  sweaters  for 
school  wear;  kinds  of  skates;  back-yard  garden  crops;  rowdy 
boys;  boisterous  girls;  running  away  from  home;  "jumping" 
trains;  homemade  "  wireless  "  outfits;  "  sissy  "  boys;  cultivating 
beans  (strawberries,  blackberries,  sweet  corn  or  roasting  ears, 
etc.);  cooking  with  paper  bags;  rag  carpets;  canoe  models;  desk 
outfits  for  high  school  students;  points  to  consider  in  buying  a 
farm  horse  (milk  cow,  pig,  pony,  etc.);  fudge  as  a  dissipation; 
afternoon  newspapers;  farm  papers;  gum-chewing  as  athletic 
exercise. 

15.  Return  to  the  paragraphs  selected  under  questions  1,  2,  3. 
First,  underscore  every  expression  that  serves  as  a  connection 
between  one   thought-group  and   another.     Second,   mark  the 
places  where  no  such  connective  expressions  are  used.     Third, 
determine  in  these  instances  what  if  anything  gives  the  impres- 
sion of  connectedness  between  the  units  of  thought. 

16.  Using  colored  pencil  or  some  bright  ink,  insert  connect- 
ing  expressions   (words,  phrases,  etc.),  between    the    units    of 
thought  in  the  paragraphs  you  built  up  out  of  the  Bible  verses 
in  questions  4,  5,  6;    do  the  same  in  the  paragraphs  built  up 
from  the  editorial  article. 

17-22.  Write  paragraphs  of  150  or  200  words  upon  the  three- 
division  topics  stated  in  questions  10-14. 

23-25.  Make  detailed  outlines  (Section  V,  note  2)  for  papers 
of  four  paragraphs  each  upon  any  three  of  the  four-division 
topics  stated  in  questions  10-14. 

26.  Mark  in  colored  ink  or  pencil  the  division-points  between 
the  units  of  thought  in  the  paragraphs  called  for  in  questions 
17-22.     If  the  connection  is  not  plain  already,  insert  words  or 
phrases  enough  at  these  points  to  make  it  plain. 

27.  State  the  working-thought  that  each  paragraph  in  each 
of  the  compositions  called  for  by  questions  23-25  will  have. 

28-33.  Write  out  the  compositions  that  you  have  laid  the 
foundations  for  in  questions  23-25  and  27. 


32         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

VI.  Emphasizing  the  important  thoughts.  —  Some 
thoughts  in  a  composition  are  more  important  than 
others;  and  common  sense  directs  us  to  lay  more  stress 
on  the  more  important  than  on  the  less  important.  We 
can  emphasize  thoughts  either  (a)  by  writing  about 
them  more  fully  (proportion),  or  (6)  by  putting  them 
very  near  the  beginning  or  the  end  of  the  composition, 
where  they  will  be  the  first  or  the  last  to  have  atten- 
tion (massing,  or  grouping).  The  end  is  the  position 
of  greater  emphasis.  The  two  methods  may  be 
combined. 

Note  1 :  For  further  development  of  this  principle,  see  XXVII, 
notes  1,  2,  3;  XXVIII,  notes  1,  2;  and  especially  XXIX  and 
XXXVI,  note  3. 

Note  2:  In  newspaper  reports,  or  " stories,"  the  gist  of  the 
article  nearly  always  comes  at  the  very  first.  The  reason  is, 
that  newspaper  writing  is  a  highly  specialized  form  of  composi- 
tion, in  which,  for  the  sake  of  immediate  interest  and  of  great 
quickness  of  understanding,  the  principle  of  emphasis  is  applied 
in  a  special  way  to  accomplish  a  special  purpose.  [The  accepted 
theory  is  stated  in  Section  VI  —  that  the  end  is  the  position  of 
greater  importance.  But  this  theory  is  undergoing  question.  It 
is  safe  to  say  that  most  professional  writers,  when  writing  mainly 
to  give  information,  follow  the  news-writer's  rule  —  that  stated 
in  this  note.] 

6.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  VI. 

1.  Examine  five  paragraphs  of  one  of  Macaulay's  essays, 
making  an  outline  of  each  paragraph  to  show  the  main  divisions 
of  the  thought  that  it  contains.     Then  note  the  amount  of  space 
given  to  each  division. 

2.  Continuing  the  examination  of  the  Macaulay  paragraphs, 
seek  and  explain  the  reason  for  the  varying  space  emphasis  given 
the  different  thought  divisions. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  33 

3,  4.   With  five  paragraphs  of  Lamb's  "South  Sea  House," 
or  "Mackery  End,"  do  as  directed  in  questions  1-2. 

5.  Examine  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  twenty  paragraphs 
from  Macaulay.     In  how  many  do  you  find  the  chief  thought, 
or  one  of  the  chief  thoughts,  of  the  paragraphs,  at  the  beginning 
or  very  near  it?     Near  the  end? 

6.  Rewrite  five  of  the  paragraphs,  placing  these  thoughts  in 
less  prominent  positions;   can  their  place  thus  be  changed  with- 
out causing  a  decrease  in  their  importance? 

7.  Try  similar  experiments  with  ten  paragraphs  from  Lamb; 
with  ten  from  a  novel   (for  instance,   The  Master  of  Ballan- 
trae) . 

8.  From  each  of  three  newspapers  clip  two  editorial  articles. 
Let  one  from  each  paper  consist  of  a  single  paragraph,  and  the 
other  of  several  paragraphs  —  at  least  three.     Study  these  for 
space-emphasis  as  directed  in  (1)  and  (2)  above,  and  for  place 
emphasis  as  directed  in  (5)  and  (6). 

9.  Write  a  long  paragraph  upon  "  Three  books  I  should  like 
to  read:  The  Bible,  The  Iliad,  and  Nicholas  Nickleby."     Assign 
space  to  each  division  in  proportion  to  its  importance.     Follow 
the  order  here  used. 

10.  Write  another  long  paragraph;    choose  your  own  sub- 
ject; pay  particular  attention  to  space-emphasis. 

11.  Using  the  topic  stated  in  question  9,  but  reconstructing 
it  to  indicate  the  required  order,  write  a  paragraph  in  which  you 
wholly  disregard  space-emphasis  for  the  most  important  book, 
and  produce  the  sense  of  its  importance  by  relying  solely  on 
place-emphasis.     (Observe   that   place-emphasis   can   be   aided 
by  using  quick,  forceful,  concrete,  vivid  words  and  sentences.) 

12.  Return  to   questions   17-22,   set  4-5.     Study  three   of 
these  paragraphs  to  see  if  space-emphasis  were  well  managed. 
Reconstruct  as  needed. 

13.  Rewrite  the  remaining  three  of  these  paragraphs  (ques- 
tions 17-22,  set  4-5),  with  the  especial  aim  of  emphasizing  by 
position  (place-emphasis). 


34        THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

VII.   Paragraphs  really  whole  compositions.  —  We 

have  seen  already  that  the  general  principles  applicable 
in  the  case  of  whole  compositions  apply  equally  in  the  case 
of  paragraphs.  This  would  not  be  if  there  were  any 
fundamental  difference  between  the  whole  composi- 
tion and  the  paragraph.  But  there  is  no  fundamental 
difference.  The  whole  composition  is  —  theoretically 
—  longer  than  the  paragraph,  and  therefore  consists 
of  two  or  more  paragraphs;  that  is  all.  In  turn, 
each  of  the  paragraphs  is  in  the  same  way  likely  to 
consist  of  two  or  more  groups  of  sentences  (Sections 
I;  IV  and  note).  It  is  easy  to  prove  this  conclusively. 
Examine  three  or  four  long  paragraphs  to  discover  the 
thought-blocks  (sentences  or  sentence-groups  dealing 
with  distinct  parts  of  the  thought),  and  set  off  each  of 
these  blocks  by  itself.  Each  block  will  then  appear  as 
a  distinct  paragraph,  and  the  original  paragraph  will 
appear  as  a  whole  composition. 

Note:  As  the  paragraph  is  not  fundamentally  different  from  the 
whole  composition,  it  will  have- — as  the  whole  composition  has  — 
a  topic  and  a  working-thought  developed  from  that  topic.  The 
working-thought  is  therefore  always  to  be  stated  in  papers  of  a 
single  paragraph,  as  in  longer  compositions.  (See  Section  VIII 
and  notes  for  directions.) 

7.  EXEKCISES  ON  SECTION  VII. 

1-2.  Using  this  outline,  write  a  whole  composition  consisting 
of  three  long  paragraphs: 

Topic-thought:  Squirrels, birds, and  dogs  make  desirable  pets. 
Paragraph  1 :   Squirrels  as  desirable  pets. 
Paragraph  2:  Birds  as  desirable  pets. 
Paragraph  3:   Dogs  as  desirable  pets. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  35 

3.  Reduce  this  composition  to  a  single  paragraph  without 
sacrificing  any  of  the  essential  fact.  —  Now  examine  the  new 
paragraph.     Does  it  contain  three  groups  of  sentences  —  one 
about  squirrels,  one  about  birds,  and  one  about  dogs,  as  pets? 
(Disregard  sentences  that  are  used  merely  by  way  of  introduc- 
tion or  conclusion.) 

4.  Treat  an  editorial  article  of  medium  length  as  directed  in 
question  3. 

5.  Do  the  same  with  passages  of  several  paragraphs  each 
from  your  textbooks  in  history,  science,  literature,  etc. 

6.  Write  a  paragraph,  based  on  Section  VII  and  the  accom- 
panying exercises,  to  prove  that  paragraphs  are  short  whole 
compositions. 

7.  Throw  together  all  the  paragraph  titles  in  a  chapter  of  a 
history  or  other   textbook,  turning  them   into   sentences   and 
providing  connection.     Do  they  produce  a  composition? 


B.  TOPIC  AND  WORKING-THOUGHT 

VIII.  Stating  the  working-thought.  —  The  first 
step  in  building  up  a  composition  is  that  of  settling 
upon  a  topic  —  the  one  particular  thing  that  is  to  be 
definitely  expressed  about  the  general  subject.  The 
second  step  is  that  of  stating  this  topic  more  precisely 
and  in  more  detail,  so  that  it  will  serve  as  a  working- 
thought  (compare  III  and  notes;  XII  and  notes). 

Note  1:  Great  care  is  necessary  in  developing  the  working- 
thought  from  the  topic.  Observe  carefully  these  principles; 
namely,  — 

Note  2:  The  working-thought  is  the  topic  thought  stated  very 
fully  and  precisely.  It  takes  the  form  of  a  declarative  sentence, 
and  the  grammatical  subject  of  this  sentence  is  the  name  of  the 
logical  subject  with  which  the  composition  deals.  Example: 


36         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

Subject  (Logical  and       Topic  thought  Working-thought 

Grammatical)  Mohammed      l[Mohammed]   2[was  a 

Mohammed.  was  a  fanatic,     fanatic]  3[as  is  shown  by] 

4[his  religious  mania,] 
5[his  contempt  for  law] 
6[and  his  extreme,  con- 
tradictory traits  of  char- 
acter.] 

Note  3:  The  working-thought  definitely  asserts  some  particular 
fact  or  facts  about  the  logical  subject.  The  statement  of  these 
particular  facts  will  appear  in  the  predicate  of  this  declarative 
sentence.  See  example  above. 

Note  4:  Each  of  the  leading  ideas  and  thoughts  that  the 
paragraph  is  to  contain  will  appear  in  the  sentence;  it  may  be 
indicated  by  (l)  a  word,  (2)  a  phrase,  or  (3)  a  clause.  In  the 
example  under  note  2,  we  find  the  word  "  Mohammed,"  the 
phrase  "  was  a  fanatic/'  and  the  clause  "  as  [this]  is  shown 
by,"  etc. 

Note  5:  The  leading  ideas  and  thoughts  mentioned  in  note  4 
will,  in  the  sentence,  appear  in  the  order  that  they  are  to  have 
in  the  composition.  Compare  Section  X. 

Note  6:  Observe  that  the  precise,  definite  working-thought  is 
an  unfailing  guide  (1)  to  the  contents  and  (2)  to  the  order  of  the 
most  important  thought-blocks  in  the  composition. 

Note  7:  Observe  this:  It  is  always  the  name  of  the  logical  sub- 
ject —  of  the  thing  in  general  about  which  we  are  thinking  —  that 
will  be  the  subject  of  our  working-thought.  Observe  too:  There 
may  be  many  sentences  that  embody  the  same  thought,  yet  do  not 
express  it  in  the  form  of  a  topic  thought.  Remember  that  for  our 
purposes,  such  sentences  cannot  safely  be  used  as  the  foundation  of 
the  working-thought  sentence. 

Example: 

In  the  sentence,  "Some  persons  read;  some  merely  run  the 
eye  over  words,"  the  logical  subject  is  "true  reading."  The 
sentence  clearly  embodies  a  topic  thought  to  the  effect  that 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  37 

"true  reading  implies  close  attention  and  deep  thinking;"  but 
it  does  not  turn  this  thought  into  a  topic  thought.  Therefore, 
it  is  not  in  correct  form  to  use  as  the  foundation  of  a  working- 
thought  sentence. 

Note  8:  The  topics  and  working-thoughts  that  are  easiest 
to  state  are  those  requiring  only  to  be  proved.  The  next  easiest 
are  those  calling  for  explanation.  The  hardest  are  those  that 
call  for  description  and  narration.  The  following  topic-state- 
ments will  show  in  a  general  way  how  different  kinds  of  topics 
can  be  stated.  (Observe  that  these  are  topic  thoughts,  not 
working-thoughts;  turn  them  into  working-thoughts  by  making 
each  one  more  precise  and  complete.) 

Subject:  College  football. 

Topics  that  call  for  proof. 

1.  College  football  is  in  danger  from  professionalism. 

2.  College  football  is  an  important  influence  in  college 

education. 

3.  College  football  does  not  benefit  most  students  enough 

to  compensate  them  for  the  time  it  consumes. 
Topics  that  call  for  explanation. 

4.  College  football  is  played  thus: 

5.  College  football  may  be  harmful  in  these  ways;  namely, 

6.  College  football  is  interesting  because  of  its  appeal  to 

our   primitive   love   of   physical   combat.     (This   is 
probably  complete  enough  to  serve  as  a  working- 
thought.     In  treating  it,  one  would  first  explain  what 
he  means  by  this  love;  then  he  would  explain  how 
football  appeals  to  it.    See  XXXIX,  note  1.) 
Topics  that  call  for  description  or  narration. 
The  subject,  college  football,  is  too  general  to  permit  of  descrip- 
tion or  narration.    Let  us,  therefore,  find  a  narrower  form  of  sub- 
ject, such  as  A  college  football  game,  or  The  football  game;  then, 
a  narrower  form  of  this  second  subject,  such  as  The  appearance 
presented  by  the  game.1    Observe  that  a  very  concrete  or  a  very 

1  Or  the  football  game,  in  the  appearance  it  presented. 


38         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

specific  thing  is  best  as  a  subject  for  description  or  narration, 
because  with  such  a  subject  the  writer  can  determine  more  easily 
what  he  needs  to  fix  attention  upon. 

7.  The  appearances  presented  by  the  football  game  were: 

[mention  the  leading  appearances  that  you  wish  to 
describe  —  the  bleachers,  the  field,  the  grouped  or 
moving  teams,  etc.]. 

8.  The  exciting  plays  in  the  game  were  those  here  re- 

counted: namely,  [complete  by  enumerating  them.] 

9.  The  course  of  the  football  game,  in  its  important  plays, 

was:   [complete  by  outlining  the  game.] 
Descriptive  or  narrative  topics  about  other  subjects. 

10.  The  appearance  of  the  college  campus,   (namely,  [ask 

yourself  just  what  that  appearance  is])  results  from 
these  especially  noteworthy  things:  [follow  with  men- 
tion of  the  aspects  that  you  wish  to  present.] 

11.  [Fuller  example.]     The  appearance  —  beauty  —  of  the 

college  campus  lies  in  (a)  symmetry  of  outline,  (6)  ex- 
tensive spaces  varied  in  detail,  and  (c)  the  picturesque- 
ness  of  several  of  the  buildings  and  their  surroundings. 
[Observe  that  this  working-thought  provides  com- 
pletely for  a  description  that  is  intended  to  emphasize 
the  beauty  of  the  campus;  for  if  some  other  purpose 
were  in  mind,  a  different  statement  would  be  needed. 
Under  (a)  would  be  mentioned  the  shape  and  size  of 
the  campus;  under  (6)  the  broad  expanses  of  meadow, 
lawn,  and  yard,  varied  by  slopes,  walks,  pond,  trees, 
etc.;  and  under  (c)  the  more  picturesque  buildings, 
with  the  surroundings  that  add  to  this  picture-quality, 
such  as  North  College,  a  little  " fancy"  in  style,  al- 
most hidden  among  the  fine  trees.] 

12.  John's  appearance  was  repulsive  on  account  of  [com- 

plete]. 

13.  The  decisive  encounter  at  Waterloo  (the  charge  of  the 

Old  Guard)  was  made  up  of  the  incidents  here  re- 
counted; namely, 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  39 

Note  9:  The  examples  of  topic-statement  in  note  8  show 
that  in  many  cases  the  statement  mil  virtually  consist  of  a 
formula,  to  complete  which  one  has  only  to  determine  what  are 
the  natural  divisions,  or  leading  parts,  of  his  working-thought, 
and  to  include  these  in  the  statement  itself.  Fuller  develop- 
ment of  this  principle  will  be  found  in  Sections  IX-XXIV, 
notes. 

Note  10:  The  working-thought  as  stated  will  not  necessarily 
appear  in  the  composition  itself.  This  working-thought,  let  the 
writer  remember,  exists  to  express  formally  for  him  a  guiding 
assertion,  or  thought,  and  is  to  be  used  by  him  mainly  for  his 
CONVENIENCE  and  SAFETY.  It  should  on  this  account  be  as 
clear,  as  precise,  and  as  matter-of-fact,  as  it  can  be  made.  But 
to  employ  so  mechanical  a  form  in  the  completed  composition 
would  be  to  show  oneself  sadly  lacking  in  literary  resourcefulness. 
Often  a  little  consideration  will  discover  easier  and  more  liter- 
ary forms  of  expression  that  are  more  suitable  for  the  finished 
paper.  For  a  suggestion,  study  the  sentences  in  the  example, 
note  7. 

Note  11:  Sometimes  a  formal  phrasing  even  of  the  topic 
thought  is  not  included  in  the  composition.  At  other  times,  the 
topic  thought  is  presented  with  scrupulous  fulness  and  care. 
Whether  a  formal  statement  of  the  topic  be  included,  however, 
or  whether  it  be  omitted,  the  reader  must  be  able  surely  to  gather 
this  thought  from  the  composition  itself.  There  is  no  rule  for  in- 
cluding or  omitting  this  statement;  the  writer's  judgment  and 
experience  must  guide  him.  But  the  writer  who  is  inexperienced 
will  do  well  to  observe  the  following  hint:  When  in  doubt,  include 
a  statement  of  the  topic  thought. 

Note  12:  The  position  to  be  given  the  formal  statement  of  the 
topic  thought  when  this  statement  is  included,  must  likewise  be 
determined  by  the  writer.  The  topic-statement  may  come  at 
the  beginning  or  at  the  end,  or  at  some  intermediate  place  in 
the  paragraph.  The  inexperienced  writer  will,  however,  do 
well  to  study  carefully,  at  this  time,  Sections  VI,  XXVII,  and 
XXVIII,  with  their  notes. 


40         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

Note  13 :  Remember  that  the  form  in  which  the  working-thought, 
the  topic,  and  even  the  subject  itself,  is  stated,  will  vary  according 
to  the  purpose  which  the  writer  has  in  mind.  Success  depends  on 
deciding  exactly  what  one  wishes  to  write  about,  and  exactly  what  he 
wishes  to  say  about  it. 

Note  14:  As  preliminary  exercises,  work  out  the  following 
directions: 

a.  Make  for  yourself  a  list  of  ten  working-thoughts  that 

you  judge  will  require  but  one  paragraph  each  for 
development. 

b.  Make  a  list  of  ten  working-thoughts  that  you  judge  will 

need  at  least  two  paragraphs  for  development.  Show 
how  your  statement  indicates  this  fact. 

c.  Make  another  list,  stating  working-thoughts  that  will 

require  four  or  more  paragraphs.  Show  how  this 
need  is  indicated  by  your  statement. 

8.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  VIII 

This  set  of  exercises  is  based  on  set  3,  to  which 
reference  should  be  made. 

1.  Develop  all  the  subjects  and  topics  in  question  1,  set  3, 

into  working-thoughts. 

2.  Point  out  how  each  of  these  working-thoughts  differs 

from  the  topic  out  of  which  it  was  developed;  how 
each  of  these  topics  differs  from  the  subject  out  of 
which  it  was  developed. 

3.  Write  a  paragraph,  based  upon  Sections  III  and  VIII 

and  questions  1  and  2,  set  8,  explaining  the  nature  and 
purpose  of  the  working-thought  in  writing. 

4.  Does  division  A  of  question  4,  set  3,  consist  of  topic- 

statements  or  of  working-thoughts?  Support  your 
position  with  arguments. 

5-8.   Turn  the  topic-statements  of  divisions  B,  C,  D,  E,  set  3, 
question  4,  into  working-thoughts. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  41 

9.  Write  out  what  you  think  to  have  been  the  working- 
thought  of  the  magazine  paragraphs  chosen  under 
question  9,  set  3. 

10.  Each  student  will  write  in  or  bring  to  class,  as  may  be 

directed,  an  original  paragraph.  The  paragraphs  will 
be  read  to  the  class,  each  member  of  the  class  writing 
down  what  he  thinks  is  its  working-thought.  The  author 
will  then  write  on  the  black-board  the  working-thought 
he  used.  Discussion  and  criticism  may  follow. 

11.  Select  from  a  history,  reader,  or  other  book  five  para- 

graphs. State  the  working-thought  of  each;  mark 
off  the  groups  into  which  its  sentences  fall,  as  directed 
in  set  3,  question  9. 

12.  Do  the  same  with  five  other  paragraphs. 

13.  State  a  working-thought  having  two  divisions,  and  write 

a  paragraph  on  it.  After  the  paragraph  is  completed, 
mark  off  the  two  sentence-groups  that  it  contains. 

14.  Repeat  the  exercise,  giving  the  working-thought  three 

divisions. 

15.  State  a  two-division  working-thought,  each  division  of 

which  shall  itself  have  two  divisions.  Write  a  para- 
graph on  this  working-thought,  and  mark  off  in  it  the 
two  main  sentence-groups  and  the  two  subordinate 
sentence-groups  contained  in  each  main  part. 

16.  "Benjamin   Bastings,   although    [he   was]   a   notorious 

infidel,  was  an  exceedingly  kind-hearted  and  gener- 
ously philanthropic  man."  About  this  working- 
thought,  answer  these  questions:  (a)  How  many 
thought-blocks  would  a  paragraph  built  up  on  it  con- 
tain? (6)  What  would  they  be?  (c)  Would  all  of 
them  appear  in  some  way  as  parts  of  the  predicate? 

(d)  Would  any  of  them  appear  in  a  subordinate  con- 
struction   (grammatical   division)    of   the    sentence? 

(e)  Would  this  fact  at  all  interfere  with  the  usefulness 
of  the  part  so  subordinated  as  a  division  of  the  work- 
ing-thought? 


42         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

17.  Answer  the  same  questions  about  the  working-thought 
when  stated  in  this  different  form:  " Benjamin  Bast- 
ings, who  was  a  notorious  infidel,  was  an  exceedingly 
kindhearted  and  generously  philanthropic  man. "  —  In 
addition,  answer  these  questions  also:  (/)  Does  the 
clause  "who  was,"  etc.,  form  part  of  the  predicate  or 
part  of  the  subject,  as  the  working-thought  is  here 
stated?  (</)  Does  this  clause  contain  one  of  the  most 
important  topic  assertions,  or  one  that  is  merely 
concessive  or  explanatory?  (h)  Is  the  essential  part 
of  the  assertion  that  this  clause  makes,  contained  in 
its  predicate?  (i)  Do  you  conclude,  therefore,  that 
the  working-thought  in  its  second  form  meets  the 
requirements  of  note  3,  Section  VIII?  (j)  Is  this 
true  of  each  of  the  statements  of  working-thought  that 
here  follow?  (Compare  note  4.) 

1.   Our    cat    Cooney,    an    excellent    mouser,    got   into 
trouble  by  catching  the  neighbors'  pet   squirrels. 

2.   The  day  was  pleasant — a  little  cold 

for  March,  but  full  of  life  and  color.  

3.  Though  the  day  was  somewhat  cold,  it  was  pleas- 
ant, abounding  in  light  and  color. 4. 

A  drunkard  and  ne'er-do-well,  the  butt  of  the  vil- 
lage's wit,  Bill  Hicks  proved  the  hero  who  saved  the 
valley  from  destruction  when  the  great  dam  broke. 

5.   Healthy,  wealthy,  and  wise,  he  in- 
sisted nevertheless  that  sleeping  late  and  working 
late  are  best. 

(k)  Recast  the  statements  included  in  (j)  so  that  all 
the  facts  that  form  the  thought-blocks  shall  be  asserted 
in  the  principal  predicate.  (I)  Reviewing  the  work 
you  have  done  in  questions  16  and  17,  sum  up  in  a 
formal  written  statement,  your  conclusions  about  the 
rule  stated  in  note  3,  Section  VIII,  as  concerns  (1)  its 
fundamental  truth,  (2)  its  usefulness,  (3)  the  extent 
to  which  its  formal  requirements  may  be  modified  in 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  42 

applying  it  in  particular  instances,  (4)  the  necessity 
or  advisability  of  making  such  modifications  (compare 
note  4,  VIII),  and  (5)  the  indication  of  subordinate 
thought-blocks  in  the  working-thought  sentence. 

18-19.  Using  the  working-thought  stated  in  question  16,  write 
two  paragraphs;  the  first  in  the  natural  order  as 
provided  by  the  working-thought  itself;  the  second 
in  an  inverted  or  transposed  order.  For  suggestive 
example,  see  X,  illustrations  A  and  By  F  and  G. 
20.  Write  a  paragraph  stating  the  advantages  that  each  of 
the  two  forms  of  paragraph  has  over  the  other  (see 
questions  18-19). 

21-22.  Naming  your  own  subject,  or  subjects,  bring  in  lists  of 
topics  developed  therefrom,  and  of  working-thoughts 
based  on  these  topics,  as  follows  (more  than  one  topic 
may  be  developed  from  a  single  subject,  etc.) : 

a.  Fifteen    topics   and    working-thoughts   that  call   for 

proof. 

b.  Fifteen  that  call  for  explanation. 

c.  Ten  that  call  for  description. 

d.  Ten  that  call  for  narration. 

23-33.  Write  paragraphs  on  the  working-thoughts,  so  stated,  as 

the  instructor  may  direct. In  some  of 

these  paragraphs,  let  the  topic-statement  come  near 
the  beginning;  in  others,  let  it  come  near  the  middle; 
in  still  others,  near  the  end  (compare  VIII,  note  12, 
and  questions  18-19,  set  8). 

C.  USEFUL  METHODS  OF  THOUGHT-BUILDING 

IX.  Building  up  the  composition.  —  Writing  is 
really  the  building  up  of  thought  about  some  subject.  In 
saying  that  a  composition  is  "  built  up/'  we  mean 
that  suitable  thoughts  (thought-blocks)  are  put  to- 


44         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

gether  ("  composed  "  means  placed  together)  to  make 
a  larger,  more  complete  thought.  There  are  endless 
ways  in  which  thoughts  and  thought-blocks  can  be 
built  up  together  into  larger  structures  of  thought; 
but  many  of  these  ways  are  only  variations  of  one  or 
another  of  a  few  fundamental  methods.  We  shall 
soon  consider  some  of  these  fundamental  methods. 
Before  we  do  so,  however,  we  should  consider  a  few 
other  general  principles  that  are  exceedingly  helpful  in 
building  up  thought  (X,  XI,  XII,  XIII). 

X.  Induction  and  deduction.  —  In  thinking,  we 
proceed  either  by  induction  or  else  by  deduction.  A  com- 
position in  which  the  arguments  or  facts,  beginning  at 
the  first,  are  in  the  nature  of  particulars  and  details, 
these  being  used  to  lead  up  to  a  more  general  fact, 
or  principle,  or  conclusion,  proceeds  by  induction.  A 
composition  in  which  the  general  fact,  principle,  or 
conclusion  is  stated  first,  with  the  particular  argu- 
ments, details,  and  facts  by  which  it  is  to  be  explained, 
supported,  or  established  following  it  instead  of  com- 
ing before  it,  proceeds  by  deduction. 

Illustration  A;  inductive  form  of  working-thought: 

[Particulars  coming  first.]  The  state  of  the  air,  the  earth, 
and  vegetation,  and  the  behavior  of  beasts  and  men, 
show  that  [conclusion  following  particulars]  winter  has 
come. 

Illustration  B;  deductive  form  of  working-thought: 

[Conclusion  coming  first.]  Winter  has  come  [followed  by 
the  particulars  that  establish  it],  as  is  shown  by  the  state* 
of  the  air,  the  earth,  the  vegetation,  and  by  the  behavior 
of  beasts  and  men. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  45 

Illustration  C;   abstract  of  matter  contained  in  inductive  para- 
graph: 
Thought- 
block. 
[O.  Topic  unexpressed.] 

1.  Clear,  cold  air;    congealed  breath;    far-carrying 

sounds;   cracking  of  trees,  limbs,  timbers. 

2.  Frozen  roads,  fields,  streams;   snow-patches. 

3.  Fallen  leaves;    frozen  and  dead   grass,   garden 

plants,  herbs. 

4.  Beasts  seeking  sunny  exposures;    staying  late  in 

stables,  and  returning  early;    standing  closely 
together. 

5.  Warm  dress  of  persons  outdoors;    slapping  of 

hands,  stamping  of  feet,  carrying  in  of  fuel; 
gathering  about  fire;    etc. 

6.  [Inference  stated;   we  naturally  draw  from  these 

particulars    the    conclusion    that]     Winter    is 
here. 

Illustration  D;   abstract  of  same  paragraph  in  deductive  form 
throughout: 
Thought- 
block. 

1.  [Topic  thought  expressed.]    Winter  has  come. 

2.  The  state  of  the  air  indicates  cold  weather.     [Par- 

ticulars follow.] 

3.  The   state   of   the   earth   indicates   cold   weather. 

[Particulars  follow.] 

4.  The  state   of  vegetation  indicates   cold   weather. 

[Particulars   follow.] 

5.  The  behavior  of  beasts  and  men  indicates   cold 

weather.     [Particulars   follow.] 

[6.   Reiteration   of   resuggestion   of   topic   thought,   if 
needed;  otherwise,  nothing.] 


46         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

Illustration  E;  showing  that  the  individual  thought-blocks  may 
follow  one  method,  although  the  whole  composition  follows  the 
other: 

Whole  composition,  deductive. 
Thought-blocks,  inductive. 
Thought-block: 

1.  [Topic  thought.]     Winter  has  come. 

2.  Particulars  as  in  illustration  C,  1,  leading  up  to  the  more 

general  statement  that  the  condition  of  the  air  indi- 
cates cold  weather. 

3.  Particulars  as  in  C,  2,  leading  up  to  the  more  general 

statement  that  the  condition  of  the  earth  indicates 
cold  weather. 

4.  Particulars  as  in  C,  3,  leading  up  to  the  more  general 

statement  that  the  condition  of  vegetation  indicates 
cold  weather. 

5.  Particulars  as  in  C,  4,  leading  up  to  the  more  general 

statement  that  the  behavior  of  beasts  and  men  indi- 
cates cold  weather. 

[6.   None  necessary,  as  the  ending  of  block  5  can  be  made 
to  reiterate  the  thought  that  winter  is  here.] 

Illustration  F;  deductive  paragraph  based  on  the  example  under 
Section  VIII,  Note  2: 

1  [Mohammed]  2  [was  a  fanatic.]  3  [Admire  him  as  we  may, 
we  cannot  evade  the  sure  evidence  indisputably  written  in  the 
record  of  his  life.  His  career,  almost  every  act  of  his,  showed 
one  or  more  of  the  three  characteristics  of  the  man  who  has  been 
unbalanced  by  an  idea.]  4  [He  was  a  religious  enthusiast.  Sprung 
from  a  people  devout  in  their  religious  spirit,  he  carried  their 
spirit  to  an  extreme.  Their  faith  became  his  obsession;  their 
belief  in  creed  became  his  superstition;  their  earnestness  became 
his  zeal  and  bigotry;  their  dogma  became  his  mania.  The 
revelation  that  led  them  to  worship,  led  him  to  war.]  Etc. 
(Let  the  student  complete  it.) 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  47 

Illustration  G;  inductive  form  of  the  same  paragraph  (see  illus- 
tration F): 

4  [In  this  man,  we  find  a  religious  enthusiast.  Indeed,  " en- 
thusiast" is  a  mild  word  for  one  in  whom  the  earnest  religious 
faith  of  family  and  people  had  developed  into  the  fiery  ardor  of 
the  zealot,  the  crusader,  the  wager  —  as  he  believed  —  of  a  holy 
war,  a  divinely  decreed  vendetta.]  5  [With  this  religious  zealotry, 
he  mingled,  as  all  zealots  are  apt  to  do,  a  thorough  contempt  for 
human  law.  He  evinced  toward  the  law  the  contempt  of  the 
zealot  who  is  self-centered  and  idea-crazed,  of  the  partizan  who  is 
unable  to  await  the  orderly  processes  of  time;  and  the  result  of 
his  contempt  and  impatience  was  an  awful  destruction  of  property, 
of  life,  and  of  happiness,  no  less  than  the  founding  of  a  new 
empire  and  a  new  religion.]  6  [ —  —  —  — .]  3  [These 
characteristics  are  the  characteristics  of]  2  [the  man  who  is 
obsessed  and  unbalanced  by  an  idea  and  an  emotion  too  great 
for  his  mentality  —  the  traits  of  a  fanatic;]  1  [and  however 
much  we  admire  Mohammed,  the  man,]  2  [we  must  acknowl- 
edge that  his  career,  and  almost  every  act  of  it,  reveals  him, 
through  such  facts,  as  the  extremest  and  the  zealot.] 

10.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  X 

1.  Throw  into  inductive  form  the  working-thought  stated  in 
note  2,  Section  VIII.     Then  state  this  working-thought  as  it 
stood  for  the  paragraph  quoted  at  the  end  of  Section  X  (in  illus- 
tration G). 

2.  Refer  to  set  4-5,  questions  10-14.     Turn  all  the  deductive 
working-thought   sentences   into   inductive   form,   and   all   the 
inductive  sentences  into  deductive  form. 

2  A-B.  Develop  at  least  three  of  the  inductive  outlines  into 
themes. 

2  C-D.  Develop  at  least  three  of  the  deductive  outlines  into 
themes. 

2  E-F.  Develop  two  of  the  deductive  outlines  after  the 
method  of  illustration  E.  Develop  likewise  two  of  the  induc- 
tive outlines. 


48         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

3.  Is  Section  IV  inductive  or  deductive?  Give  reasons  for 
your  answer.  Section  V?  What  parts  of  Section  V  are  induc- 
tive? Is  the  outline  in  note  2,  Section  V,  deductive,  or  is  it 
inductive? 

4-6.  Write  out  the  three  paragraphs  for  which  abstract-out- 
lines are  given  in  Section  X. 

7.  Using  the  same  material,  construct  an  inductive  outline 
for  a  paragraph  in  which  the  individual  thought-blocks  shall  be 
deductive. 

8.  Write   a   paragraph   following   the   outline   made   under 
question  7. 

9.  Recall  in  memory,  or  observe,  some  person  or  scene  of 
notable  appearance  —  either  pleasing  or  displeasing.     Jot  down 
connected  sentences  indicating  the  principal  items  responsible 
for  this  appearance.     Add  a  sentence  or  two  indicating  definitely 
what  this  general  appearance  is  (e.g.,  surliness;  neglect).     Which 
did  you  employ,  deduction  or  induction?    What  makes  you 
think  so? 

10.  If  possible,  attend  the  trial  of  a  case  in  court  and  observe 
how  the  lawyers  examine  witnesses.     Do  they  employ  inductive 
series  of  questions  often?    Why? 

11.  Attend  court  when  a  good  lawyer  is  making  an  argument. 
Are  there  more  or  fewer  inductive  passages  in  his  speech  than 
there  are  deductive?     Why  should  he  in  such  arguments  rely 
more  on  one  method  than  on  the  other? 

12.  Observe  yourself  and  your  classmates  when  you  get  to 
arguing  among  yourselves.     Does  the  debate  usually  grow  out 
of  a  generalized  assertion  or  out  of  the  assertion  of  some  par- 
ticular (that  is,  ungeneralized)  fact?     Do  you  frequently  find 
yourselves  throwing  assertions  back  and  forth  without  proving 
anything?     What  is  the  explanation?     Is  it  that  you  lose  sight 
of  the  generalized  fact  that  you  wish  to  establish?     Write  a 
paper  about  the  question. 

13.  Take  advantage  of  the  opportunities  that  conversation 
brings  you,  to  try  tne  experiment  of  talking,  now  inductively, 
now  deductively.    By  which  method  do  you  hold  the  interest 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  49 

of  your  hearers  the  better?  Do  they  grow  confused  with  the 
inductive  details  before  you  reach  the  conclusion?  Or  when 
they  hear  the  general  fact  first,  do  they  grow  tired  before  you 
get  through  with  the  particular  illustrations,  proofs,  etc.?  Write 
an  account  of  .your  experiment. 

14.  The  body  of  a  man  who  has  been  assaulted  and  murdered 
is  found  lying  in  a  dry  water-course,  at  the  end  of  a  trail  leading 
from  the  place  of  attack.     Write  an  inductive  account  of  the 
murder,  ending  with  the  finding  of  the  body. 

15.  Beginning  with  the  discovery  of  the  body,  write  a  de- 
ductive account  of  the  murder.1 

16-20.  Read  "A  Piece  of  String,"  by  Guy  de  Maupassant. 
Observe  how  the  tragedy  of  the  old  man's  life  grows  out  of  a 
mistake  in  induction.  Write  a  paragraph  to  show  that  infer- 
ence from  too  few  particulars  is  dangerous.  Illustrate  it  from 
mistakes  that  have  come  within  your  own  experience. 

21.  Write  an  inductive  paragraph  about  a  fictitious  person, 
introducing  four  or  five  particulars  that  lead  toward  some  con- 
clusion; for  instance,  that  he  has  lied,  that  he  is  a  coward,  that 
he  is  taking  blame  wrongly  in  order  to  shield  a  friend,  etc.  Read 
the  paragraph  to  the  class,  but  omit  the  conclusion.  Each 
member  of  the  class  will  write  out  what  he  thinks  the  ending  is. 

XI.  Selection  of  thought-material.  —  By  "  selec- 
tion of  thought-material/7  we  mean  the  picking  out  of 
the  right  facts  and  ideas  (thought-material)  with  which 
to  build  up  new  thought  about  the  subject  (Section 
XVIII).  This  thought-material  must  be  "  right  "  in 
two  ways:  (1)  It  must  be  ideas  or  facts  that  effectively 

1  Deduction  and  induction  are  mingled  with  extreme  skill  in  the 
great  detective  and  mystery  tales.  Read  some  of  Poe's  ("The  Pur- 
loined Letter,"  "The  Murders  in  the  Rue  Morgue,"  "Thou  Art  the 
Man,"  "The  Gold  Bug")  or  of  Conan  Doyle's  (the  Sherlock  Holmes 
stories).  "The  Moonstone"  and  "The  Woman  in  White,"  novels 
by  Wilkie  Collins,  are  good  examples. 


50         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

support,  or  bear  out  the  working-thought  (see  XXXVII, 
note) ;  (2)  it  must  be  ideas  or  facts  that  can  be  under- 
stood by  the  persons  for  whom  they  are  written,  that  will 
be  appreciated  by  these  persons  and  that  will  arouse  their 
interest. 

Illustration  1  (paragraph  in  which  the  material  is  poorly 
selected  to  support  the  topic) : 

Topic-thought:   Mary  was  very  angry. 
Working-thought:   [to  be  supplied  later.] 

Mary  was  very  angry.  You  would  have  laughed  to  see  her. 
All  we  boys  holloed  with  glee.  She  gets  angry  easily  anyway, 
and  I  never  saw  her  angrier.  It  almost  scared  us. 

Illustration  2  (paragraph  in  which  the  material  is  well  chosen 
to  support  the  same  topic) : 

Mary  was  very  angry.  She  stamped  her  foot.  Her  face 
flamed,  then  grew  terribly  white.  Her  lips  drew  tight  across 
her  teeth,  as  if  she  were  snarling.  Her  eyes  almost  closed;  they 
seemed  to  show  only  a  slant  of  white  eyeball  and  a  darting, 
pin-point  glitter.  She  began  to  tremble;  if  she  had  not  grasped 
the  table,  she  would  have  fallen;  and  with  a  sharp  moan-like 
cry,  she  pressed  her  free  hand  against  her  heart.  We  boys 
looked  at  one  another  in  alarm. 

Illustration  3  (paragraph  in  which  the  material  would  be  hard 
to  understand  or  appreciate  by  the  reader;  it  is  supposed  to  be 
written  for  high  school  freshmen,  to  illustrate  unity  of  thought) : 

Variation  in  absolute  subordination  to  unity  is  a  cosmic  law. 
Thus  the  planetary  circumambulations  lead  in  manifold  direc- 
tions; yet  no  student  of  the  universal  space  but  has  perceived 
that  each  of  these  divagating  bodies  is  subject  to  some  superior 
compulsion  that  directs  its  errantcy  into  regulated  and  prede- 
termined viatories.  "The  morning  stars  sang  together." 
[Query:  Would  simpler  language  lead  to  greater  interest? 
Would  the  allusion  in  the  last  sentence  be  understood?  If  the 
pupils  did  understand  it,  would  they,  at  their  age,  probably  care 
much  for  it?] 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  51 

Illustration  4  (paragraph  in  which  the  material  has  been 
selected  carefully,  in  order  to  make  it  interesting  and  under- 
standable to  the  same  persons) : 

Having  unity  in  our  thought  does  not  mean  having  the 
thought  monotonous.  It  is  possible  never  for  a  moment  to  lose 
sight  of  our  main  thought,  and  yet  to  make  what  we  have  to  say 
extremely  varied.  Indeed,  the  world  itself  is  full  of  things  that 
are  the  same,  and  yet  extremely  different  in  some  respects. 
For  example,  trees  are  trees;  yet  think  how  infinitely  unlike 
one  another  are  the  trees  in  a  wood,  so  that  one  finds  pleasure 
in  spending  hours  among  them,  noting  their  kinds.  There  are 
only  a  few  typical  styles  in  the  spring  " fashions,"  and  yet  no 
two  gowns  that  we  see  on  the  street  are  exactly  the  same.  It 
seems  to  be  so  with  everything.  The  stars  move  in  various 
directions,  yet  obey  some  general  control  —  just  as  the  clock- 
wheels  work  together,  although  some  move  in  one  direction  and 
some  in  another.  Though  we  speak  of  "human  nature,"  yet 
we  know  that  no  two  persons  are  just  alike;  but  we  also  know 
that  all  people  live  a  good  deal  the  same  kind  of  life  because  they 
are  much  alike  in  nature,  notwithstanding  their  being  so  often 
unlike.  These  variations  in  the  midst  of  likeness  make  the 
world  interesting.  Similarly,  when  we  analyze  a  very  clear  and 
at  the  same  time  very  interesting  book,  we  are  likely  to  find  that, 
though,  like  nature,  it  sticks  to  its  main  idea  all  the  time,  it 
yet  introduces  all  sorts  of  variations  in  its  treatment  to  illustrate 
and  explain  its  thought;  that  is,  it,  like  nature,  has  "variety  in 
unity." 

ii.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XI. 

1.  State  the  working-thought  of  illustration  2,  Section  XI. 
Why  was  it  apparently  hard  for  the  writer  to  find  thought- 
material  for  illustration   1?     Why  much  easier  to  find  it  for 
illustration    2?     Make    a    working-thought    for    illustration    1 
(different  from  that  of  illustration  2). 

2.  Indicate  in  writing  the  items  (materials)  you  would  use  in 
developing  topic  2  in  (j),  question  17,  set  8. 


52        THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

3-4.  Make  a  list  of  the  thought-material  suitable  for  effec- 
tive development  of  each  of  the  first  five  working-thoughts 
stated  in  (a),  questions  21-22,  set  8;  the  first  five  in  (6);  the 
first  five  in  (c)  and  (d)  respectively.  Bring  these  lists  to  class 
in  form  to  be  placed  on  the  black-board. 

5.  (Based  on  illustration  4.)     Look  up  in  a  dictionary  the 
meaning  of  these  words: 

Variation.  Manifold. 

Subordination.  Universal. 

Unity.  Space. 

Cosmic.  Divagating. 

Law.  Compulsion. 

Planetary.  Errant  [cy]. 

Circum.  Predetermined. 

Ambulation.  Viatories  [via]. 

6.  Rewrite  the  paragraph  (illustration  3),  keeping  the  sen- 
tences as  they  are  as  far  as  possible,  but  simplifying  the  words 
and  expressions. 

7-9.  Under  each  topic  that  follows,  list  the  five  best  things 
that  you  can  say  in  support  of  it. 

a.  A  wise  mother  doesn't  leave  jam  on  the  lower  shelf. 
6.   Trolley  cars  often  spread  disease. 

c.  Melchior  Mulford  was  an  offensive  person. 

d.  Prudence  Proudpurse  was  by  no  means  what  she  thought 

herself  —  a  beauty. 

e.  In  attractiveness,  brick  buildings  are  not  necessarily 

inferior  to  buildings  of  stone. 

/.  Architecturally,  the  church  is  more  attractive 

than  the  church. 

g.  The  hobble-skirt  styles  of  1911  are  more  graceful  than 
the  hoop-skirt  styles  of  fifty  years  earlier.  (For 
illustrations,  see  current  fashion-plates;  and  for  the 
hoop-skirt,  files  of  Harper's  Weekly,  Godey's  Ladies' 
Book,  Leslies's  Weekly,  and  illustrated  histories  and 
books  on  costume,  period  of  the  war  between  the 
states.) 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  53 

h.   Griddle  cakes  are  more  palatable  than  muffins. 

i.  The  common  (or  green,  or  public  square)  is  a  place  of 
continual  interest. 

j.  The  common  (or  green,  or  public  square)  needs  improve- 
ment. 

k.  The  common  (or  green,  or  public  square)  has  various 
elements  of  beauty. 

I.    A  song  at  evening  has  power  to  touch  the  heart. 

m.  The  bull  dog  is  frequently  typical  of  the  man  who  owns 
him. 

n.  Dangerous  acrobatic  "turns"  such  as  are  seen  in  vaude- 
ville theaters  are  especially  enjoyable. 

o.   A  big  pipe  in  the  mouth  of  a  boy  is  a  sign  of  manliness. 

p.  There  are  no  more  school-girls;  after  the  age  of  fifteen, 
all  girls  are  now  " young  ladies." 

10-11.   Under  each  subject  that  follows,  set  down  what  is 
called  for  by  this  table: 

TOPIC  AND  MATERIAL  I  WOULD  SELECT  IN  WRITING 

FOR  — 


A  TWELVE-YEAR  OLD  CHILD. 

A  GROWN  PERSON. 

Topic: 
Material  under  this  topic  : 

2 
3 
4 
5 

Topic: 
Material  under  this  topic: 

2 
3 
4 
5 

a.  A  pump.  e.    Flower  fertilization. 

b.  An  automobile.  /.    Sanitary  cooking. 

c.  Electricity.  g.    Business-efficiency  systems. 

d.  Honesty.  h.   Political  party  organization. 

i.    Fashions  [not  merely  fashions  in  clothes]. 

12-15.  Write  out  paragraphs  on  any  three  of  the  pairs  of 
topics  that  you  stated  under  10-11. 


54         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

XII.   Determining  the  order  of  the  thought-blocks. 

-  Much  depends  on  the  order  in  which  the  thought- 
material  is  put  together  in  building  up  the  new 
thought.  This  order  will  affect  (a)  the  clearness; 
(6)  the  f orcef ulness  (VI  and  notes) ;  and  often  (c)  the 
pleasing  quality  of  the  composition.  Read  XLIII 
and  notes  attentively. 

Note  1:  Observe  that,  in  order  to  state  a  working-thought,  one 
must,  in  a  general  way,  already  have  selected  his  thought-material 
and  determined  the  order  in  which  it  is  to  be  handled.  Read 
Section  XXX  carefully. 

Note  2:  It  follows  from  note  1  that  the  statement  of  the 
working-thought  is  the  last  thing  that  precedes  actual  writing. 
This  table  shows  the  usual  stages  of  thought-building: 

1.  Recognizing  or  picking  subject. 

2.  Determining  topic  (accompanied  by  some  analysis  and 

reading) . 

3.  Selecting  material    (by  reading,  analysis,  observation, 

choosing). 

4.  Stating  working-thought,   thus  determining   the  order 

of  the  thought-blocks. 

12.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XII 

1.  Using  this  outline,  and  following  its  order  strictly,  write  a 
paragraph  on  "How  to  catch  a  fish." 

a.  What  to  do  when  the  fish  has  been  hooked. 
6.   How  to  remove  the  fish  from  the  hook. 

c.  How  to  bait  the  hook. 

d.  What  to  do  when  there  is  a  "nibble." 

e.  What  outfit  is  needed  in  ordinary  fishing. 

After  completing  the  paragraph,  consider:  Did  you  find  some  difficulty  in 
connecting  the  parts  of  the  paragraph  with  one  another?  Why?  —  There  are 
many  people  who  know  almost  nothing  of  fishing  —  perhaps  merely  that  in 
some  way  a  hook  is  used.  To  such  persons,  would  the  paragraph  be  quite  clear 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  55 

at  any  time  before  thought-block  e  had  been  reached?  Would  they  probably 
find  it  necessary  to  read  the  paragraph  a  second  time  to  get  a  thorough  under- 
standing of  it?  Is  thought-block  b  closely  connected  in  fact  with  thought-block 
c?  More  closely  than  with  any  of  the  other  blocks?  Ought  the  most  closely 
connected  blocks  to  be  brought  together  in  the  paragraph?  —  Can  you  find  a 
more  logical,  i.e.,  sensible,  order  for  the  thought-blocks?  Make  an  outline 
showing  it. 

Rewrite  the  paragraph,  bettering  the  order  as  much  as  possible;  then  compare 
the  two  paragraphs,  and  make  clear  what  the  improvement  is  that  shows  in  the 
second  draft. 

2.  Repeat  the  exercise,  using  this  outline  on  "A  freshman's 
first  week  and  how  it  affects  him": 

a.  Discouragement  after  a  few  days. 

b.  First  day's  meeting  with  classmates. 

c.  Inspiration  from  first  view  of  campus. 

d.  Hard  lessons. 

e.  Indifference  of  upper-class  men. 
/.    Failure  in  recitation. 

g.   Sense  of  freedom  and  manhood. 
h.  Finding  room  and  board. 

Study  and  recompose  this  paragraph  as  directed  in  ques- 
tion 1. 

3-7.  By  means  of  outlines,  indicate  what  the  order  of  the 
thought-blocks  should  be  in  the  development  of  topic  thoughts 
based  on  these  subjects.  Explain  in  each  instance  why  the 
order  you  suggest  is  logical.  Make  not  fewer  than  five  divisions 
under  each.  Make  each  division  specific;  don't  be  content 
with  generalities. 

a.  The  procedure  in  taking  a  "kodak"  picture. 

b.  Making  biscuits. 

c.  The  requisites  for  success  in  college. 

d.  The things  necessary  to  learn  in  swimming. 

e.  The  things  to  be  attended  to  in  pitching  a  tent. 
/.    Preparing  for  a  cross-country  bicycle  trip. 

g.   The  procedure  that  one  observes  in  sewing  on  a  button. 
h.   The  library  as  a  visitor  observes  it. 


56        THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

i.    An  oak  tree  (beech,  walnut,  spruce  pine,  etc.)  and  its 
characteristics. 

.;.    The  best  method  of  getting  a  German  lesson  (French, 
algebra,  history,  chemistry,  etc.). 

k.   Of  what  class-loyalty  consists. 

I.    The  uses  of  notebooks. 

m.  Poor  ways  of  employing  notebooks. 

n.  Proper  care  of  the  shoes. 

o.   The  wearing  of  jewelry. 

p.  Unwholesome  foods. 

q.   The  arrival  of  the  village  train. 

r.   Paying  calls. 

s.    Pickerel  fishing  (or  trout,  or  bass,  or  blue-fish,  etc.). 

t.    Poggie  boats. 

u.  Bees  among  the  apple  blows. 

v.    Trimming  hats. 

w.  Putting  on  a  necktie. 

8-11.  Work  out  a  different,  but  clear  and  logical  order  of 
development  for  each  of  the  topic  thoughts  that  you  outlined 
under  questions  3-7.  Would  the  paragraphs  written  on  these 
second  outlines  produce  a  different  impression,  or  effect,  on  the 
reader?  Taking  the  outlines  one  by  one,  point  out  what  this 
difference  would  be. 

12-13.  Write  out  paragraphs  on  two,  or  more,  pairs  of  the 
outlines  prepared  as  directed  above.  Observe  the  different 
effect  they  produce,  especially  when  read  aloud. 

14.  Think  over  the  work  done  under  questions  3-13,  and 
write  a  theme  about  the  importance  of  the  thought-order  in 
compositions. 

XIII.   Choosing  a  method  of  development.  —  We 

have  already  said  that  the  variety  of  ways  of  building 
up  compositions  is  almost  unlimited,  but  that  these 
numerous  ways  are  only  variations  of  a  few  simple 
methods.  Let  us  now  fix  in  mind  (a)  that  the  same 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  57 

topic  can  often  be  developed  by  more  than  one  method, 
and  (b)  that  the  particular  method  chosen  must  depend 
entirely  on  the  judgment  and  purpose  of  the  writer.  A 
skilful  writer  —  one  whom  we  should  call  expert  — 
after  deciding  what  he  wishes  to  accomplish  by  his 
writing,  will  have  little  trouble  in  deciding  how  to 
accomplish  it;  that  is,  upon  his  method ,  or  technique. 
And  writers  who  are  not  expert  can  become  so  by 
conscientious  practice.  But  toward  this  end,  neither 
textbooks  nor  instructors  can  help  much ;  the  student 
must  help  himself  —  and  he  can  do  it  —  through 
faithful  application.  By  method  we  here  mean  the 
general  plan  of  procedure  adopted  by  the  writer  to 
get  his  meaning  before  the  reader.1  See  Section  XXX. 

13.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XIII 

1.  Study  again  the  work  done  under  questions  8-11,  set  12. 
When  you  changed  the  outlines,  did  you  in  any  degree  change 
the  method  of  treatment,  or  handling?  In  what  respects? 

2-4.  Taking  one  by  one  the  topic  thoughts  in  questions  3-7, 
set  12,  suggest  for  each  at  least  two  distinct  ways  of  presenting 
the  facts.  With  topic  (a),  for  instance,  the  facts  can  be  laid 

1  The  definition  of  "method"  is  here  left  a  little  vague  on  purpose. 
Some  of  the  "general  plans  of  procedure"  are  explained  in  Section 
XIV  and  the  sections  that  follow  it.  Narration,  description,  exposi- 
tion, and  argumentation  are  also  methods;  so  are  induction  and 
deduction.  The  important  thing,  at  this  point,  is  for  the  student  to 
realize  that  he  can  usually  embody  the  same  meaning  in  two  or  more 
separate  compositions  built  up  in  distinctly  different  ways.  For 
the  young  writer  to  bring  himself  to  see  that  exactly  the  same  idea 
may  be  presented  in  two,  or  three,  or  even  four  or  more,  distinct  com- 
positions by  following  different  procedure,  is  well  worth  his  long, 
earnest  effort.  A  large  part  of  the  art  of  composition  lies  in  the  skill 
that  makes  the  writer  more  than  a  single-method  man. 


58        THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

before  us  in  a  simple,  matter-of-fact  explanation,  or  in  the  form 
of  a  history  (story).  The  simple  explanation  would  begin  some- 
what in  this  way:  "The  first  thing  to  do  in  taking  a  kodak 
picture  is  .  .  .  ";  the  story  form  would  perhaps  begin  thus: 
"Henry  slipped  the  catch  of  his  'Brownie'  camera,  opened  the 
back,  and  drew  out  the  inner  frame.  He  then  ..."  (Make 
your  suggestions  in  detail,  so  that  they  shall  show  clearly  what 
method  of  handling  the  topic  thought  you  intend  in  each  case 
to  use.) 

5-10.  Write  out  paragraphs  developing  each  of  these  topic 
thoughts  in  the  two  ways  you  have  suggested. 

11-12.  Name  five  subjects.  Taking  each  subject  separately, 
indicate  three  different  ways  of  developing  topic  thoughts  based 
on  it. 

13.  As  directed  by  the  instructor,  write  out  sets  of  three  para- 
graphs in  which  you  use  one  of  the  subjects  and  employ  the  three 
methods  of  development  that  you  suggested  in  answering  11-12. 

XIV.  Building  up  thought  by  enumerating  implied 
details.  —  A  common  method  of  thinking  is  that 
which  begins  with  a  topic  thought  implying  particu- 
lars, or  details;  that  is,  the  central,  or  topic  thought, 
is  embodied  in  some  general,  or  inclusive,  assertion  that 
immediately  suggests  a  number  of  particulars;  these  de- 
tails being  naturally  associated  with  it  and  forming 
part  of  it. 

Examples: 

1.  The  old  house  was  full  of  memories.     [Particulars:   The 
days  of  boyhood  sport  —  games,  reading  in  attic,  sliding  down 
banisters;  father's  death;  the  mortgage  sale  and  the  farewell,  etc.] 

2.  The  duties  of  a  bank-cashier  are  numerous.     [Particulars: 
Receiving  deposits  —  verifying  deposit  slips,  counting  the  money; 
paying  out  money  on  checks  —  verifying  signatures,  requiring 
identification,  avoiding  overdrafts,  etc.] 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  59 

3.  Panhurst  contains  many  well-built  houses.  [Details: 
Mention  of  individual  houses  that  are  well  built.] 

Formula:  To  turn  such  a  topic  into  a  working-thought,  use 
this  formula:  [topic]  —  as  is  seen  from  the  following  details: 
[enumerated].  Example:  The  duties  of  a  bank-cashier  are 
numerous,  as  is  seen  from  the  following  details:  receiving  deposits, 
paying  checks,  and  supervising  accounts. 

14.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XIV 

As  the  instructor  shall  direct,  either  write  out 
paragraphs  in  full  on  these  central  thoughts,  or  make 
lists  of  the  particulars  you  would  select  in  developing 
them,1 

1.  Military  training  requires  attention  to  many  details. 

2.  The  lake  wa3  very  beautiful. 

3.  Character  is  merely  a  combination  of  numerous  little 
habits  and  traits. 

4.  The  climate  of  New  England  is  one  of  extremes. 

5.  A  mountain-side  in  autumn  is  wonderfully  beautiful. 

6.  The  sonder-boat  is  a  remarkably  trim  vessel. 

7.  Automobiles  now  display  an  admirable  gracefulness  in 
build. 

8.  Sunset  seen  from  our  campus  (dormitory;  room,  etc.)  is 
a  feast  of  color. 

9.  Evening  home-life  is  full  of  pleasure. 

10.  College  life  implies  duties  of  various  sort. 

11.  Membership  in  an  athletic  team  calls  for  self-sacrifice. 

12.  The  woods  about  the  town  are  full  of  interest  to  the  tree- 
lover. 

13.  To  the  observing  person,  a  walk  down  Pleasant  Street 
is  very  interesting. 

1  Observe:  In  all  the  exercises  in  this  book,  the  student  is  expected 
to  formulate  the  working-thought  unless  a  working-thought  has 
already  been  provided.  See  Section  III,  note  5. 


60        THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

14.  Bicycles  are  machines  of  many  parts. 

15.  Review  Section  X.     In  what  form  are  the  topics  given 
just  above  (1-14),  inductive  or  deductive?     Write  out  the  reasons 
for  your  answer. 

16-17.  Rewrite  two  of  the  paragraphs  that  you  prepared 
under  questions  1-14,  changing  from  the  inductive  to  the  deduc- 
tive form,  or  vice  versa.  (The  working-thought  is  also  to  be 
restated.) 

XV.  Building  up  thought  through  illustration;  com- 
paring the  subject  to  something  else.  —  Frequently 
the  thought  of  the  composition  naturally  builds  itself  up 
into  an  illustration,  or  series  of  illustrations,  of  the 
topic  thought.  One  of  the  simplest  means  of  illus- 
tration is  that  of  comparing  the  subject  to  something 
else.  We  may  remember  this  as  illustration  by  liken- 
ing to. 

Example: 

Topic  (and  working-thought):  An  automobile  is  like  a  rail- 
way locomotive  [in  these  respects:  motive  power;  construction; 
speed.] 

An  automobile  may  well  be  likened  to  a  railway  locomotive. 
True,  it  lacks  the  weight  and  mass  of  the  locomotive  and  it  does 
not  run  on  rails;  but  in  other  essentials  it  closely  resembles  the 
railway  engine.  It  uses  the  same  sort  of  motive  power.  The 
steam-moved  automobile  corresponds  to  the  steam  railway- 
engine;  the  electric  "auto"  is  the  electric  railway-engine  modi- 
fied to  carry  its  own  store  of  electricity;  the  gasoline  car  and 
other  vapor  cars  correspond  to  the  gasoline  and  vapor  engines 
now  in  use  on  western  railways.  In  construction,  too,  the  auto- 
mobile resembles,  etc.  [Complete  the  paragraph.] 

Formula:  In  stating  the  working-thought  for  illustration  by 
likening-to,  use  this  formula:  [subject]  is  like  [name  of  thing  it 
is  compared  to]  in  these  respects:  [enumerate  them].  Example: 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  61 

An  automobile  is  like  a  railway  engine  in  these  respects:  motive 
power;  construction;  speed.  Example  of  freer  form:  Man  in 
the  course  of  his  life  may  be  compared  to  an  apple  on  the  tree: 
at  first  small,  hard,  and  green;  then  waxing  toward  ripeness; 
then  round,  and  ripe;  and  at  last  withered  and  decayed. 

15.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XV 

Find  helpful  comparisons  by  means  of  which  to 
build  up  explanations  based  on  the  topic-hints  that 
follow;  formulate  working-thoughts  embodying  the 
comparisons;  and  develop  paragraphs  from  the 
working-thoughts :  — 

1.  A  cistern  is  like 

2.  Calling  Greek  and  Latin  "dead"  languages  is  like  calling 


3.  Hazing  is  like 

4.  A  jinrikisha  is  like 

5.  Planting  a  first  garden  is  like 

6.  Reading  is  like 

7.  His  (some  speaker's)  gestures  were  like  • 


8.  The  workings  of  a  spraying-machine  can  be  compared  to 
those  of 

9.  The  working  of  the  so-called  friction,  or  hill-climbing,  toys 
is  in  principle  like  that  of 

10.  The    method    of     planning    a    composition     resembles 


11.  A  vicious  dog  is  like 


12.  In  the  principle  on  which  it  works,  the  steam  engine  is 
like 

13.  The  principle  on  which  the  monoplane  works  is  like 


14.  As  a  form  of  dissipation,  gum-chewing  may  be  likened  to 


15.  As  an  occupation,  sewing  is  in  a  woman's  life  like  - 
in  a  man's. 


62         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

16.  The  influence  of  fraternities  in  the  high  school  is  like 

that  of  in  (go  outside  of  school  and 

college  for  comparison). 

17.  Cookery  among  girls  is  like among  boys. 

18.  In  its  contents,  a  boy's  pocket  is  like 

19.  Drawing  a  straight  furrow  is  on  the  farmer's  part  like 

•  on  the  part  of  the 


20.   Successfully   passing   a   hard    course   in    school   is    like 


21.   The  fall  of  the  leaves  in  autumn  is  like 


22.   In  blind  unreasonableness,  what  is  called  class-spirit  is 
like 


23.   Obedience  to  rules  in  home  or  in  school  is  like  - 


24.  The  person  who  has  a  fondness  for  reading  to  fall  back 
upon  in  hours  of  lonesomeness  is  like r- — 

25.  The  so-called  slums,  or  districts  of  great  poverty,  in  our 
wealth-abounding  cities,  are  like in 

26.  The  choice  made  by  the  man  who  prefers  to  remain  a 
poorly  paid  city  clerk  rather  than  to  venture  an  independent 
struggle  in  the  country  may  be  like  that  of 

XVI.  Building  up  thought  through  illustration; 
comparing  one  thing  with  another.  —  A  second  way 
of  building  up  a  collection  of  thoughts  into  a  com- 
position is  that  of  comparing  the  subject,  not  to  but 
with  something  else.  The  thing  with  which  the  sub- 
ject is  compared  may  be  in  part  like,  and  in  part  un- 
like, it;  we  then  have  illustration  through  likeness  and 
unlikeness.  Or  the  thing  with  which  the  subject  is 
compared  may  be  quite  unlike  the  subject;  we  then 
have  illustration  through  contrast,  or  opposition. 

Illustrations: 

A  paragraph  built  up  by  comparing  two  types  of  racing  horse 
—  e.g.,  a  trotting  with  a  running  horse  —  would  be  built  up  by 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  63 

the  method  of  illustration  through  likeness  and  unlikenessy  because 
the  two  kinds  are  alike  in  some  respects  and  different  in  others. 
But  one  built  up  by  comparing  a  race-horse  with  a  draft-horse 
would  be  built  up  mostly  by  illustration  through  contrast,  because 
the  two  kinds  are  in  the  main  unlike. 

Determine  which  of  the  following  terms  and  sentences  call 
for  comparison  of  likeness  and  unlikeness,  and  which  for  com- 
parison through  contrast: 

1.  The  rotary  saw  is  much  more  effective  than  the  cross-cut 
saw,  when  it  can  be  employed  at  all. 

2.  The  mind  of  the  scholar  (it  was  once  believed)  is  essentially 
different  from  the  mind  of  the  man  of  affairs. 

3.  The  man  of  habits  and  the  man  of  impulses. 

4.  The  red  oak  and  the  black  oak. 

5.  True  kindness. 

6.  Gasoline  and  electric  motor-trucks. 

7.  Some  persons  read;    some  merely  run  the  eye  over  the 
words. 

Formula:  In  stating  the  working-thought  for  illustration  by 
comparison,  use  this  formula  as  a  whole,  or  the  appropriate  parts 
of  it:  [Subject]  compared  with  shows  these  resem- 
blances and  differences;  namely,  [enumerate  them]. 

1 6.   EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XVI 

Formulate  working-thoughts,  and  from  these  de- 
velop paragraphs  of  comparison  based  on  the  topic- 
hints  that  follow. 

1.  Fly  fishing  and  fishing  with  worms. 

2.  Shooting  with  rifle  and  with  shot-gun. 

3.  Football  and  basket-ball. 

4.  Kerosene  and  electric  lighting. 

5.  The  all-stove  and  the  "fireless"  method  of  cooking. 

6.  Home-made  and  tailor-made  gowns. 

7.  Fountain-pens,  dip-pens,  and  typewriters. 

8.  Two  of  the  magazines  for  the  month  of . 


64         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

9.  The  pleasure  of  reading  history  and  that  of  reading  fiction 
(or  science). 

10.  Railway  day-coaches  and  parlor-cars. 

11.  Types  of  riding-plows. 

12.  Disk  and  tooth-harrows,  and  their  work. 

13.  Worried  faces  and  care-free  faces. 

14.  The   gait  of   the   country  boy   and   of   the  town  boy. 
[Don't  draw  on  your  imagination;   observe.] 

15.  The  service  in  the   Methodist  and  in  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  church.     [Be  careful  to  treat  each  with  respect,  as  all 
such  things  should  be  treated.] 

16.  Dress  with  the  tasteful  and  with  the  "loud"  girl. 

17.  Hope  and  expectation. 

18.  [Trade  name]  chocolates  compared  with *s. 

19.  Baking-powder  biscuits  and  soda  biscuits  (hot  bread). 

20.  Chicken  and  turkey  as  meats. 

21.  The  theater  and  home  games  as  amusement. 

22.  Brothers  and  sisters  as  members  of  the  family. 

23.  Rugs,  carpets,  or  bare  floors  for  living  rooms. 

24.  Gingham  and  calico  for  dresses  (or  broadcloth  and  serge, 
or  covert  cloth  and  cameFs-hair) . 

XVII.  Building  up  thought  through  illustration; 
citing  instances-  or  examples.  —  One  of  the  most 
natural  ways  of  thinking  is  that  in  which,  as  soon  as 
one  makes  an  assertion,  he  recalls  individual  instances 
in  which  it  has  proved  true;  in  other  words,  examples 
of  the  fact  asserted.  Therefore,  this  method  of  build- 
ing up  thought  is  common.  We  may  call  it  illustra- 
tion by  citing  instances. 

Example : 

Topic  thought:  Honesty  pays.     (State  the  working-thought.) 

Honesty  pays.     We  had  a  good  example  of  this  in  Dreamville. 

Our  village  barber  found  a  long-lost  pocket-book  containing  a 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  65 

lottery  ticket.  The  drawing  was  past;  fifteen  hundred  dollars 
was  due  on  the  ticket.  Yet  he  returned  the  property.  This 
simple  honesty  paid  him  doubly.  He  kept  the  respect  of  his 
own  conscience,  and  gained  a  valuable  friend.  The  man  of  the 
pocket-book  procured  work  for  him  in  a  better  position;  and  in 
the  new  employment,  through  natural  ability,  he  quickly  made 
a  place  for  himself  that  clears  him  much  more  every  year  than 
the  amount  of  the  lottery  ticket. 

Further  illustration: 

A  few  suggestive  topic  thoughts  are  given  here,  with  instances, 
or  examples,  selected  to  support  them.1 

[Topic  thought.]  Many  men  resist  big  and  yield  to  little 
temptations.  [Examples  selected.]  The  man  who  endures  great 
suffering,  yet  scolds  about  little  things;  scrupulously  cares  for 
large  sums  of  his  employer's  money,  yet  carries  away  office 
stamps;  would  never  think  of  stock-gambling,  yet  plays  " penny 
ante." 

[Topic  thought.]  Understanding  of  language  by  animals 
seems  frequent.  [Instances  selected.]  The  trained  pig  picks 
out  numbers  as  directed;  dogs  obey  numerous  commands,  such 
as  "sic  'im,"  "beg,"  "to  heel,"  "range,"  "retrieve,"  "down," 
"go  home";  horses  and  oxen  respond  to  language,  stopping, 
backing,  and  turning  "gee"  or  "haw"  at  command. 

[Topic  thought.]  Truth  sometimes  seems  stranger  than 
fiction.  [Instances  selected.]  Instance  of  the  man  who  lived 
after  a  blast  blew  a  crowbar  through  his  brain;  of  the  degener- 
ates who  torture  animals  and  persons  because  they  love  to  see 
suffering;  of  the  letter  of  forgiveness  from  home  found  by  the 
former  run-away  boy  in  a  pile  of  scrap  paper  in  his  paper  ware- 
house twenty  years  after  it  was  sent. 

1  Let  the  student  observe  that  in  picking  examples  he  is  using  the 
process  of  selection.  Is  the  same  true  when  he  develops  thought  by 
means  of  resemblance  and  difference?  ]of  contrast?  of  comparison 
to?  of  synonym  and  repetition?  of  explanation  of  content?  of  presen- 
tation of  proofs?  of  application  of  a  principle?  of  explanation  of  cause 
or  effect? 


66         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

[Topic  thought.]  Thought  is  merely  the  result  of  "  putting 
two  and  two  together. "  [Instances  selected.]  Newton's  reason- 
ing-out of  the  law  of  gravity  from  observing  an  apple  fall  and 
recollecting  that  things  which  are  at  rest  do  not  move  unless 
some  force  be  applied  to  them;  the  success  of  the  students  in  the 
story  " Philosophy  Four,"  who  knew  only  a  limited  amount  of 
the  details  of  the  course,  but  in  examination  proved  the  general 
theories  of  the  subject  by  means  of  original  illustrations  drawn 
from  their  own  experiences  in  a  recent  escapade. 

Formula:  In  stating  working-thoughts  for  illustration  by 
means  of  instance,  or  example,  -use  this  formula:  [topic  thought], 
instances  of  this  being  [enumerate  the  instances  or  examples 
selected].  Example:  Thought  is  merely  the  result  of  " putting 
two  and  two  together, "  instances  of  this  being:  Newton's  reason- 
ing   j  the  success  of  the  students 

17.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XVII 

Select  good  instances  and  examples  to  be  used  in 
developing  these  topic  thoughts;  embody  them  in 
working-thoughts;  and  develop  paragraphs  from  the 
working-thoughts. 

1.  Different  subjects  call  for  different  methods  of  study. 

2.  Students  who  keep  up  their  studies  from  day  to  day  are 
not  usually  those  who  are  " caught"  by  tests. 

3.  Good  intentions  are  not,  by  themselves,  enough  to  produce 
a  good  outcome. 

4.  Studies  that  are  easy  for  one  man  may  be  difficult  for 
another. 

5.  Methods  of  travel  change  as  times  change. 

6.  Our  fathers  would  have  been  amazed  at  many  things  that 
to  us  seem  commonplace. 

7.  More  than  once,  the  "mollycoddle"  has  proved  of  more 
worth  to  the  world  than  the  " strenuous"  man. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  67 

8.  In  college  life,  as  elsewhere,  it  is  the  man  of  high  ideals 
who  is  recognized  as  setting  the  standard. 

9.  Minute  forms  of  life  are  capable  of  causing  great  ills. 

10.  Things  that  are  beautiful  are  nearly  always  useful. 

11.  Our  town  has  some  excellent  (or  very  poor)  architecture. 

12.  School  athletics  sometimes  lead  to  regrettable  incidents. 

13.  Accepted  customs  are  not  always  reasonable. 

14.  Many  small  newspapers  could  be  improved  in  certain 
ways. 

15.  Cutting  out  clothes  by  pattern  requires  skill. 

16.  The  kitchen  arrangement  in  many  houses  is  poor. 

17.  I  am  neglectful  of  details  in  my  writing. 

18.  Some  very  interesting  magazines  owe  their  interest  to 
other  things  than  fiction.     (See  for  material  the  current  mag- 
azines.) 

XVIII.   Building  up  thought  through  definition.  — 

Frequently  thought  builds  itself  upy  or  "  grows"  by 
means  of  definition.  In  such  instances,  there  is  always 
some  word  or  phrase  (i.e.,  "  term  "),  or  some  sentence 
("  proposition  "),  that  calls  for  explication.  The 
reason  is,  that  if  thought  grow  at  all,  it  can  do  so  only 
by  bringing  together  into  one  coherent  body  more  and 
more  ideas  or  contributing  thoughts.  Many  of  these 
ideas  or  thoughts,  though  differing  in  details,  are  alike 
in  some  principal  respect;  and  they  are  so  numerous 
that  some  one  inclusive  term  or  assertion  is  needed 
to  cover  them.  Accordingly,  the  thinker  uses  some 
particular  word  or  phrase  to  name  all  those  that  are 
of  like  kind,  or  a  carefully  worded  sentence  to  express 
his  new  thought  about  them.  The  result  is,  that  in 
expressing  his  thought  succinctly,  he  often  employs  terms 
or  propositions  calling  for  explication.  When  he  uses 


68         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

such  an  expression,  he  usually  accompanies  it  with  an 
explanation  of  its  meaning.  This  general  process  is 
that  of  definition. 

Note  1:  Definition  is  exceedingly  important.  First,  it  is 
important  to  the  thinker  himself;  it  leads  him  to  "try  out"  his 
own  assertions  and  enables  him  to  make  certain  that  his  thought 
is  both  clear  and  logical.  Second,  it  is  important  to  the  reader; 
it  unfolds  to  him  the  significance  of  the  terms  used  by  the  thinker, 
and  thereby  enables  him  to  seize  the  thought  itself. 

Note  2:  As  definition  is  important  to  the  reader,  it,  of  course, 
is  especially  important  to  that  particular  class  of  readers  who  use 
books  for  the  purpose  of  getting  education  —  students.  Many 
inexperienced  students  fail  to  pay  enough  attention  to  definition 
as  a  part  of  study.  They  fail  in  two  ways.  First,  they  read 
sentences,  paragraphs,  and  even  pages  in  the  textbook,  without 
at  all  stopping  to  define  to  themselves  the  meaning  of  the  terms 
and  statements  they  are  going  over.  This  is  fatal.  Second, 
they  stop  short  of  rethinking  ideas  for  themselves.  The  live  student 
will  not  content  himself  with  absorbing  the  ideas  of  others;  he 
will  turn  them  over  and  rework  them  in  his  own  mind  until  they 
represent  both  the  original  thought  and  his  own  thought  added 
thereto.  No  idea  or  thought  is  truly  a  man's  own  before  he  has 
thus  defined  it  to  himself  by  putting  it  into  such  terms  as  his 
own  knowledge  makes  him  able  fully  to  understand,  and  fitting 
it  thoroughly  into  his  own  experience. 

XIX.  Building  up  thought  through  definition; 
synonyms  and  simple  explanatory  terms.  —  One  of 
the  easiest  forms  of  definition  is  that  in  which  the 
explication,  or  unfolding,  of  the  idea  is  accomplished 
through  the  employment  of  synonyms  and  the  repetition 
of  the  idea  in  simplifying  expression. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  69 

Examples: 

The  term  "explication"  in  the  first  sentence  of  the  paragraph 
above  is  defined  by  the  simplifying  synonym,  "  unfolding, "  that 
follows  it.  An  assertion  such  as  "The  glory  of  the  conquered 
is  surrender"  is  perhaps  as  good  an  expression  of  the  thought 
meant  to  be  conveyed  as  can  be  found;  yet  to  many  readers  the 
meaning  of  it  may  be  obscure.  Let  us  make  it  clearer  by  repeat- 
ing the  thought  in  synonyms  and  simpler  expressions  that 
explain  it,  thus :  — 

"The  glory  of  the  conquered  is  surrender.  The  conqueror 
has  the  glory  of  his  triumph;  but  to  him  who  yields  there  is 
also  a  triumph  —  the  triumph  that  comes  from  high  and  worthy 
action  —  from  recognizing  defeat,  ceasing  in  a  bootless  struggle, 
adapting  himself  to  the  new  situations  and  making  the  best  of 
what  cannot  be  escaped.  It  requires  a  great  man  or  a  great 
people  thus  to  forget  defeat  and  begin  anew,  not  as  victor  but  as 
vanquished;  out  of  disaster  to  recover  the  materials  of  usefulness 
and  from  overthrow  to  create  success  anew.  Few  indeed  earn 
the  humble  yet  greater  glory  that  thus  comes  from  complete 
surrender." — The  student  should  observe  that  in  this  para- 
graph virtually  three  definitions  are  given:  a  definition  of 
"glory,"  a  definition  of  "surrender,"  and  a  definition  of  the 
assertion  as  a  whole.  To  gain  a  better  understanding  of  this 
method,  let  him  take  each  term  in  the  paragraph  separately, 
and  determine  what  part  of  the  topic  thought  it  defines.  Let 
him  also  write  out  in  his  own  words  the  meaning  of  each  of  these 
terms  as  used  in  the  paragraph. 

Formula:  In  stating  a  working-thought  that  calls  for  definition, 
use  this  formula:  [topic  thought];  meaning  [here  insert  the  neces- 
sary statement].  Example:  The  glory  of  the  conquered  is 
surrender;  meaning  by  "glory,"  the  honor  resulting  from  high 
and  worthy  action,  and  by  "surrender,"  the  giving  up  of  what  is 
impossible  and  the  undertaking  of  new  things  that  may  be  possi- 
ble.   The  student  should  observe  that,  in  definition, 

the  thing  of  first  importance  is  to  get  one's  meaning  clearly  and 
accurately  in  mind;  see  Section  XXI. 


70         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

19.    EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XIX 

Determine  which  expressions  in  these  sentences 
need  defining;  decide  on  the  necessary  synonyms  and 
simplifying  expressions;  formulate  working-thoughts 
containing  the  necessary  definitions;  and  from  these 
working-thoughts  build  up  paragraphs: 

1.  Exegesis  forms  the  principal  part  of  many  sermons. 

2.  Some  writers  think  that  to  be  literary  they  must  be  gran- 
diloquent. 

3.  The  mind  as  well  as  the  blossom  can  be  fertilized. 

4.  The  putting  to  death  of  Professor  Ferrer  has  been  called 
by  many  judicial  murder. 

5.  " Socialism"  is  a  much  misused  term. 

6.  Nihilism  is  something  that  the  universe  seems  to  move 
away  from  rather  than  to  approach. 

7.  Men  are  still  under  the  dominion  of  barbarism. 

8.  The  term  "  composition "  is  equally  applicable  in  writing, 
painting,  typesetting,  music,  and  manufacturing  chemistry. 

9.  Another  Renaissance  is  needed  by  the  world. 

10.  America  is  still  dominated  by  utilitarian  ideals. 

11.  The  man  who  says,  "I  can't  learn  English,"  is  announc- 
ing himself  as  mentally  weak. 

12.  The  socially  untrained  pride  themselves  on  their  gross 
mannerisms. 

13.  Ignorant  persons  are  likely  to  deem  inelegance  a  sign  of 
strength  rather  than  of  weakness. 

14.  Because  science  is  not  a  subject  of  study  but  an  attitude 
of  mind,  the  artist  often  surpasses  the  scientist-specialist  in  scien- 
tific insight  and  power. 

15.  Domestic  science  is  an  obscure  term  to  many. 

16.  The  subject  of  his  paper  was,  "The  Emergence  of  National 
Consciousness." 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  71 

XX.  Building  up  thought  through  definition ;  show- 
ing the  content  of  expressions  employed.  —  In  XIX, 

we  have  already  come  close  to  another  method  of 
definition  —  one  that  is  much  harder  to  master, 
though  not  to  manage  after  it  is  mastered.  This  is 
definition  through  showing  the  content  of  terms.  "  Con- 
tent "  signifies  the  exact  meaning  that  an  expression 
carries,  or  implies  —  that  is,  contains.  We  have  al- 
ready seen  that  words,  phrases,  and  sentences  often 
contain,  or  carry,  meanings  that  may  not  appear  to 
the  reader  at  first  sight.  Sometimes  this  is  because 
the  expression  itself,  in  whole  or  in  part,  seems  obscure; 
and  we  then  define  it  through  synonym  or  through 
repetition  in  explanatory  terms.  But  sometimes  the 
expression  needs  definition  for  a  different  reason. 
This  is  the  case  when  the  expression  is  so  used  as  to 
carry  more  or  less  significance  than  we  should  other- 
wise give  it,  and  when  it  is  used  with  a  meaning  that 
differs  from  the  meaning  that  is  commonly  accepted. 
When  any  expression  is  so  used,  we  need  an  explana- 
tion of  its  new  content  —  the  meaning,  or  significance, 
that  it  has  when  employed  in  this  new,  or  specialized, 
way.  Accordingly,  we  define  it  by  explaining  what 
the  meaning  is  that  it  now  contains. 

Illustration  (observe  that  the  explanation  gives  "murder" 
a  wholly  new  significance) : 

Murder  is  one  of  the  commonest  of  crimes.  I  do  not  mean 
the  mere  killing  of  men;  of  the  human  body.  That  is  not  so 
common,  nor  always  even  so  terrible  a  crime.  The  killing  of 
men  is  only  one  form  of  murder.  Murder  is  done  when  an 
ideal  is  killed;  when  hope  is  slain;  when  love  is  slaughtered; 


72        THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

when  truth  is  strangled;  when  honor  is  sacrificed  at  the  com- 
mand of  ambition.  It  is  this  butchery,  this  extermination,  of 
what  is  fine  and  noble  in  our  nature,  that  is  the  true  crime, 
the  true  murder;  and  it  is  as  common  with  us  as  birth  and 
death. 

Other  illustrations  (let  the  student  ask  himself  whether  the 
content  of  the  term  is  lessened,  or  enlarged,  or  perhaps  essentially 
altered  by  the  definition): 

[Topic  thought.]  Properly  understood,  excitement  is  bene- 
ficial to  the  nerves.  [Definition.]  Excitement  is  the  rousing 
of  the  nerves  to  their  full  normal  energy.  (Might  any  other  of 
the  terms  call  for  definition?) 

[Topic  thought.]  Politics  is  an  occupation  for  none  but  the 
most  noble  and  upright.  [Definition.]  Politics  is  the  control 
of  the  affairs  of  a  community  or  a  people  in  such  a  way  as  to  pro- 
duce the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number,  with  the  least 
evil  to  any. 

[Topic  thought.]  Self-sacrifice  is  the  source  of  all  greatness. 
[Definition.]  Self-sacrifice  is  the  resolute  pursuit  of  a  purpose 
that  one  believes  is  worth  the  effort,  the  pursuit  being  kept  up 
regardless  of  the  appeal  of  other  interests,  affections,  or  possibly 
duties,  that  would  interfere  with  it.  (Might  any  other  of  the 
terms  call  for  definition?) 

Formula:  The  formula^for  stating  the  working-thought  is  the 
same  for  both  methods  of  development  by  definition.  See 
XIX,  Formula. 

Note:  There  is,  in  fact,  little  or  no  difference  of  meaning 
between  the  term  " definition"  and  the  term  "showing  the 
content."  It  would  be  accurate  to  say  that  there  are  two 
methods  of  showing  the  content  of  an  expression;  namely,  the 
method  of  Section  XIX,  and  the  method  of  Section  XX.  The 
term  " content,"  however,  has  here  been  arbitrarily  used  to  indi- 
cate but  one  of  the  methods  of  definition.  (Let  the  student  try 
to  find  a  term  to  take  its  place  in  Section  XX,  thus  permitting 
"content"  to  be  used  with  full  meaning.)  —  (What  method  of 
development  is  exemplified  by  this  note?) 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  73 

20.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XX 

Determine  which  expressions  in  each  sentence  need 
defining;  decide  upon  and  state  the  meaning  they 
have;  formulate  working-thoughts  embodying  these 
definitions;  and  develop  paragraphs  from  the  work- 
ing-thoughts. 

1.  Kindness  may  be  brutality. 

2.  What  is  called  success  often  means  failure. 

3.  Loyalty  is  not  the  same  as  blind  devotion. 

4.  There  is  sometimes  more  companionship  in  silence  than  in 
words. 

5.  Truth  is  more  important  than  mere  fact. 

6.  Few  men  are  convinced  of  the  truth;    they  are  merely 
impressed  strongly  by  somebody's  assertion  of  it. 

7.  Beauty  —  if  we  can  see  it  —  is  to  be  found  in  everything. 

8.  Many  a  man  boasts  of  high  aims  who  is  simply  ambitious. 

9.  Few  of  us  really  believe  in  liberty. 

10.  True  college  spirit  not  infrequently  makes  its  possessor 
unpopular. 

11.  There  is  many  a  scoundrel  in  frock  coat  and  silk  hat. 

12.  Each  of  us  loves  poetry,  though  he  may  not  have  learned 
yet  to  love  the  poetry  that  is  written  in  books. 

13.  The  good  agriculturist  cultivates  more  than  the  soil. 

14.  Social  exclusiveness  is  essential  to  social  welfare. 

15.  Affection  sometimes  appears  to  be  harshness. 

16.  Journalism  deserves  to  rank  as  a  form  of  literature. 

17.  Religion  may  manifest  itself  in  the  appearance  of  being 
irreligious. 

18.  Domestic  science  is  rightly  called  "science." 

19.  A  dressmaker  may  be  truly  an  artist. 

20.  I  have  known  ordinary  girls  who  were  heroines. 

21.  She  was  too  demure. 

22.  When  the  cat  is  watchful,  the  mouse  learns  to  be  a  diplo- 
matist, 


74         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN   COMPOSITION 

XXI.  Building  up  thought  through  definition ;  logi- 
cal definition.  —  In  order  to  build  up  a  very  precise 
and  exact  body  of  thought,  it  often  is  necessary  to 
state  the  meaning  of  important  or  frequently  used 
terms  with  extreme  accuracy.  This  gives  rise  to  what 
is  called  logical  definition. 

Examples: 

Adaptability  is  the  power  to  adjust  oneself  to  new  surround- 
ings. 

A  square  is  a  plane  figure  having  four  equal  sides  and  four 
right  angles. 

Luck  is  that  chance  element  in  life  which  brings  us  good 
or  bad  fortune  regardless  of  merit  or  effort  on  our  part. 

Induction  is  a  method  of  reasoning  in  which  the  arguments 
or  facts,  beginning  at  the  first,  are  in  the  nature  of  particulars 
and  details,  that  are  used  to  lead  up  to  a  more  general  and  inclus- 
ive fact,  or  a  principle  or  conclusion. 

Deduction  is  a  method  of  thinking  in  which  a  general  and 
inclusive  fact,  or  a  principle  or  conclusion,  is  stated  first,  fol- 
lowed by  the  particular  arguments,  details,  and  facts  by  which 
it  is  explained  or  established. 

Note  1:  Logical  definition  has  been  called  "the  core  of  defi- 
nition. "  This  means  that,  whenever  we  build  up  thought  through 
any  method  of  definition  (Sections  XVIII-XX),  all  our  thought 
centers  on  some  exact  logical  statement  like  those  given  above. 
We  may  not  always  put  this  exact  statement  into  our  composi- 
tion; but  if  we  condensed  the  composition  into  its  most  compact 
form,  that  form  would  be  such  an  exact  statement. 

Note  2:  The  other  forms  of  definition  are  really  enlarge- 
ments upon  and  explanations  of  the  logical  definition  (note  1), 
It  follows,  therefore,  that  in  building  up  thought  through  defi- 
nition, the  exact  statement  of  the  logical  definition  ought  to 
be  given  the  essential  place  in  the  predicate  of  the  working- 
thought. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES 


75 


Example: 

Section  XIX,  Formula.     In  this,  the  form  of  statement  may, 

for  purposes  of  illustration,  be  this:  " —meaning  that 

glory  is  the   honor  resulting  from,   etc.,  —  —  and   that 

surrender   is    the   giving  up and    the   undertaking 

,"  etc.     The  thought-blocks  of  the  composition  will 

then  explain  the  terms  of  this  definition  one  by  one,  employing 
the  methods  of  Sections  XIX  and  XX  as  may  be  necessary. 
Note  3:  A  complete  logical  definition  has  three  parts: 
The  name  of  the  thing  defined  (term). 
The  name  of  the  class  of  things  to  which  the  thing  defined 

belongs  (genus). 

The   catalog  of  those   characteristics   wherein  the   thing 
defined  is  different  from  the  other  members  of  the  class 
to  which  it  belongs  (differentia). 
Examples: 


TERM 
(name  of  indi- 
vidual thing)  . 

GENUS 
(class  to  which 
it  belongs). 

DIFFERENTIA 
(way  in  which  it  differs  essen- 
tially from  the  rest  of  the  class). 

Adaptability 

is  the  power 

to   adjust   oneself   to    new   sur- 

roundings. 

A  square 

is  a  plane  fig- 

having four  equal  sides  and  four 

ure 

right  angles. 

Luck 

is  that  chance 

which   brings    us    good    or    bad 

element  in 

fortune  regardless  of  merit  or 

life 

effort  on  our  part. 

Induction 

is  a  method  of 

in  which  the  arguments  or  facts, 

reasoning 

beginning  at  the  first,  are  in 

the  nature  of  particulars  and 

details  that  are  used  to  lead  up 

to  a  more  general  and  inclusive 

fact,   or   a   principle   or   con- 

clusion. 

Deduction 

is  a  method  of 

in  which  a  general  or  inclusive 

thinking 

fact,  or  a  principle  or  conclu- 

sion, is  stated  first,  followed  by 

the  particular  arguments,  de- 

tails, or  facts  by  which  it  is 

explained  or  established. 

76         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

Note  4:  A  good  logical  definition  meets  four  requirements; 
namely,  — 

1.  Its  defining  terms  are  simpler  and  more  easily  under- 

stood than  is  the  term  they  define;  and  it  usually  is 
short.1 

2.  It  does  not  employ  the  name  of  the  thing  defined,  or 

any  derivative  form  of  it,  as  one  of  the  defining  terms 
(e.g.,  an  optimist  is  an  optimistic  person). 

3.  It  excludes  all  objects  that  are  not  logically  entitled  to 

be  called  by  the  name  of  the  thing  defined  (i.e.,  do  not 
belong  to  the  same  genus  and  show  the  same  differen- 
tia). 

4.  It  includes  all  objects  that  are  logically  entitled  to  be 

called  by  the  name  of  the  thing  defined  (i.e.,  that  be- 
long to  the  same  genus  and  show  the  same  differentia). 

21.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXI 

1.  Opening  a  dictionary  (unabridged)  at  various  pages  at 
random,  find  twenty  examples  of  logical  definition.  Copy  them 
and  bring  them  to  class. 

2-4.  Construct  a  logical  definition  of  each  of  these  terms: 

a.  Mucilage.  g.  Pen  wiper. 

b.  Cigar.  h.  Necktie. 

c.  Clock.  i.    Hair  ribbon. 

d.  Watch.  j.    Embroidery. 

e.  Pocket-knife.  k.   Watered  silk. 
/.    Army  rifle.  I.    Griddle-cakes. 

i  Or  else  more  exact,  as  is  the  case  when  the  logical  definition  is 
used  to  build  up  a  technical  or  scientific  conception  instead  of  a  pop- 
ular conception,  as  here:  "A  baseball  is  a  sphere.  ..."  Why  not 
"ball"  instead  of  "sphere"?  "Sphere"  would  be  the  right  word  in 
a  study  of  the  mathematical  proportions  and  qualities  given  to  the 
baseball  in  order  to  adapt  it  to  the  game.  In  such  instances,  the 
question  is  one  of  exactness,  not  of  clearness;  therefore  the  less 
simple  but  more  exact  term  is  employed. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  77 

m.  Ink.  t.    Cold  cream. 

n.  Locomotive  engine.  u.  Chewing-gum. 

o.   Dishwashing.  v.  Dirt. 

p.  Snow-shoveling.  w.  Window. 

q.  Train-wreck.  x.   Chimney. 

r.  Ticket-agent.  y.  Hatpin, 

s.    Newspaper.  z.   Tobacco-jar. 

5-7.  Construct  a  logical  definition  of  each  of  these  terms 

(do  not  get  a  definition  from  the  dictionary). 

a.  Composition.  n.  Graciousness. 

b.  Class  spirit.  o.  Subserviency. 

c.  Health.  p.  Pictures. 

d.  Transportation.  q.   Moonlight. 

e.  Affection.  r.    Laziness. 

/.  Literature.  s.  Carelessness. 

g.  Misty  weather.  t.  Hunger. 

h.  Unselfishness.  u.  Eating. 

i.  Weak-mindedness.        v.  Caterwauling. 

j.  Avarice.  w.  Ambition. 

k.  Enthusiasm.  x.  Travel. 

I.  Faithfulness.  y.  Value, 

ra.  Parental  love.  z.  Comfort. 

8-12.  Using  four  of  the  logical  definitions  that  you  have 
constructed,  embody  them  in  working-thoughts,  and  on  these 
working-thoughts  build  up  paragraphs,  using  the  method  of 
Sections  XIX  and  XX. 

XXII.   Building  up  thought  by  applying  a  principle. 

—  Another  form  of  thinking  that  is  common  is  that 
in  which  the  thinker,  having  perceived  that  some 
general  truth,  statement,  or  principle  bears  on  some 
particular  fact  or  set  of  facts,  points  out  this  bearing, 
or  application.  The  process  is  direct,  helpful,  and 
simple. 


78        THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

Illustrations: 

[Topic  thought  (=  the  principle).]  Religious  worship  is  a 
privilege.  [Bearing  of  the  principle  in  a  particular  instance.] 
The  man,  therefore,  who  stays  away  from  church  to  read  the 
Sunday  paper  is  giving  up  one  of  the  greatest  opportunities  of 
life.  He  is  not  directly  disregarding  a  duty;  his  duty  is  to  do 
that  which  is  best  for  himself  and  those  dependent  on  him. 
But  he  is  bartering  a  priceless  privilege  of  spiritual  refreshment 
for  a  five-cent  titillation  of  his  still  childish  curiosity. 

[Topic  thought  (principle).]  All  is  not  gold  that  glisters. 
[Application  in  a  particular  instance.]  Henry  Jones  thought 
that  a  "practical"  training  —  what  he  called  " education"  — 
was  the  best  to  be  had.  To  his  inexperienced  eye,  it  glistered 
like  true  gold.  He  studied  only  " practical"  subjects  in  the 
high  school.  When  he  was  graduated,  he  entered  college.  He 
got  in  only  by  the  skin  of  his  teeth,  although  school-mates  who 
had  been  less  " practical"  had  no  trouble;  but  even  then  the 
glister  appeared  golden  to  him.  He  continued  to  study  only 
the  things  that  he  called  practical.  True,  he  acquired  some 
facility  in  dealing  with  mere  facts;  he  even  accumulated  a  mass 
of  practical  information.  Yet  he  began  to  feel  the  need  of 
something  more  —  of  something  that  less  " practical"  men  had, 
and  that  he  had  not  —  a  power  over  ideas,  a  command  of  pure 
thought,  acquaintance  with  a  world  of  ideals  to  which  he  was  an 
utter  stranger  —  a  mastery  of  his  own  mind  and  spirit  beyond 
what  was  involved  in  the  bare  following  of  an  occupation  and 
the  getting  of  wealth.  He  could  make  more  money  than  many 
men  of  his  acquaintance  —  and  yet  he  envied  them.  He  was 
not  one  of  them;  he  felt  that  they  had  succeeded  in  something 
better  than  all  he  knew.  And  presently  he  began  to  fear  them. 
They  were  to  be  competitors;  he  began  to  stand  in  dread  of  the 
time  when  the  resources  of  his  " practical"  education  should 
cease  to  grow,  and  their  self-fed  fountain  of  resource  should  flow 
more  and  more  aboundingly  —  the  time  when  the  fuller,  though 
less  immediate  results  of  their  education  would  reveal  its  superi- 
ority over  his  mere  training.  But  it  was  too  late  to  change. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  79 

He  had  bought  his  gold  brick,  and  the  labor  and  the  years  he 
had  paid  for  it  could  never  be  recovered.  At  a  cruel  price,  he 
had  purchased  a  full  comprehension  of  the  old  adage:  All  is  not 
gold  that  glisters. 

Formula:  The  formula  for  stating  the  working-thought  in 
development  of  this  sort  is:  The  principle  that  [state  it],  applies 
in  the  case  of  [indicate  the  specific  instance  on  which  its  bearing 
is  to  be  shown].  Example:  The  principle,  that  all  is  not  gold 
that  glisters,  applies  in  the  case  of  Henry  Jones,  who  was  deceived 
by  plausible  assertions  of  the  value  of  " practical  education." 

22.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXII 

1.   State  twenty  general  truths,  or  principles. 
2-4.   State  working-thoughts  in  which  these  principles  are 
applied. 

5-8.   Build  up  paragraphs  from  these  working-thoughts. 
9-14.   State  working-thoughts  applying  the  principles  stated 
below,  and  build  up  paragraphs  from  the  working-thoughts. 
a.   Men  are  cruelest  to  their  best  beloved. 
6.   To  some,  honor  is  but  a  name. 

c.  Cash  is  cheaper  than  credit. 

d.  The  wise  student  foresees  examination  day. 

e.  Wisdom  is  better  than  rubies. 

/.    Hope  springs  eternal  in  the  human  breast. 

g.    Murder  will  out. 

h.   The  golf -player  needs  be  a  philosopher. 

i.    The  more  the  cultivation,  the  greater  the  crop. 

j.    The  cow  that  kicks  will  never  be  the  milkmaid's  pet. 

k.  There  is  no  place  like  home. 

I.    Economy  of  labor  lies  in  the  production  of  the  greatest 

results  from  the  least  amount  of  effort. 
m.  The  crop  that  exhausts  the  soil  is  a  dangerous  crop. 
n.   Readiness  is  half  the  battle, 
o.    Good  roads  return  good  money. 
p.  Wilful  waste  makes  woful  want. 


80         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

q.   Farm  profits  lie  in  preventing  waste. 
r.    When  the  cat  is  away,  the  mice  will  play, 
s.    Ill  fares  the  land,  to  hastening  ills  a  prey, 

Where  wealth  accumulates,  and  men  decay. 
t.  The  reaper  is  needed  when  the  grain  is  ripe. 
u.  It  is  too  late  to  knead  the  dough  when  the  biscuits  are 

in  the  pan. 
v.    The  littlest  pig  may  squeal  the  loudest. 

XXIII.   Building  up  thought  by  presenting  proof.  — 

A  great  deal  of  the  thinking  we  do  consists  in  accumu- 
lating proof  of  things  we  have  asserted  or  believe.  When- 
ever we  present  a  fact  for  the  express  purpose  of 
showing  the  truth  of  something  else  —  that  this  some- 
thing else  itself  is  so — we  use  the  method  of  development 
by  presenting  proof. 

Note  1:  Development  by  any  of  the  methods  of  thought- 
building  may  amount  to  proof  of  the  topic  thought  (see  Formula, 
examples) .  Therefore,  in  seeking  to  prove  the  truth  of  any  topic 
thought,  the  student  is  perfectly  free  to  employ  in  the  course 
of  his  reasoning  any  method  that  seems  most  likely  to  give  his 
main  proof  the  greatest  strength. 

Formula:  In  development  by  presenting  proof,  use  one  of 
these  two  formulas  for  stating  the  working-thought:  (1)  [topic 
thought] ;  because  [summary  of  the  proof] ;  or  (2)  [topic  thought] ; 
as  is  proved  by  [summary  of  the  proof].  Examples:  [Topic 
thought.]  The  valley  was  beautiful,  because  [proof  lies  in  the 
details  implied]  it  contained  a  winding  river  with  adjacent 
meadows,  a  stately  forest,  and  a  remote  romantic-looking 
village.  —  [Topic  thought.]  Within  fifteen  years  the  loco- 
motive engine  has  doubled  in  usefulness;  because  [comparison] 
in  the  automobile  it  has  been  adapted  to  use  without  a  rail-bed. 
[Topic  thought.]  Great  men  are  wont  to  be  eccen- 
tric, as  is  proved  by  [examples]  men  like  Napoleon,  Dr.  Johnson, 
Cowper,  Byron,  and  Carlyle.  —  [Topic  thought.]  Work 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  81 

is  the  dissipation  of  the  moral;  because  [definition]  men  who 
would  not  be  tempted  to  waste  their  powers  by  indulgence 
in  the  so-called  "bad  habits"  often  yield  to  the  temptation  to 

squander  their  strength  in  excessive  labor. Further 

examples:  Examinations  are  helpful  because:  (a)  they  impress 
the  student  with  the  need  of  remembering  as  well  as  compre- 
hending what  he  studies;  (6)  they  cause  him  to  take  review  of 
his  subject,  thereby  getting  a  conception  of  it  in  perspective. 

The  fine  arts  are  higher  than  the  utilitarian  arts, 

because:  (a)  they  deal  not  with  material  but  with  spiritual 
ideals;  and  consequently  (6)  give  the  only  adequate  expression 
of  the  forces  that  promote  civilization. 

23.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXIII 

1.  State  ten  topic  thoughts  requiring  proof. 

2.  State  working-thoughts  based  on  these  topic  thoughts. 
3-8.   Build    up    paragraphs    from    these    working-thoughts, 

according  to  the  directions  the  instructor  shall  give. 

9-15.   State  working-thoughts  and  build  up  paragraphs   of 
proof  therefrom,  based  on  these  topic  thoughts: 

a.  The  rolling  stone  may  start  an  avalanche. 

b.  The  umbrella  girl  never  learns  to  bear  the  sun. 

c.  The  automobile  is  useful  to  the  farmer. 

d.  It  is  possible  to  be  a  good  college  man  without  being 

interested  mainly  in  athletics. 

e.  The  fish  still  in  the  sea  are  more  desirable  than  those 

that  have  been  taken  out. 

/.  The  solution  of  a  problem  in  algebra  may  profit  a  man 
as  much  as  making  a  "star"  play  on  the  gridiron. 

g.   There  is  need  of  forest  conservation  about  Amherst. 

h.  The breed  of  cows  is  best  for  market  dairy- 
ing. 

i.    Study  should  be  called  an  amusement. 

j.  No  man  will  ever  make  the  most  of  his  educational 
opportunities  who  does  not  lay  himself  open  to  the 
fullest  influence  of  every  subject  that  he  studies. 


82         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

k.  Alfalfa  is  superior  to  clover  as  a  crop. 

I.    Too  many  subjects  are  required  in  the  schools. 

ra.  Too  few  teachers  are  employed  in  the  schools. 

n.  Boys  should  be  taught  by  men  teachers. 

o.'  Birds  should  be  protected. 

p.  Not  all  birds  should  be  protected. 

q.   The  country  house  and  yard  should  be  made  attractive. 

r.    The  stable  should  be  kept  clean. 

s.    Good   housekeeping   calls   for   adequate   housekeeping 
equipment. 

t.    Girls  can  earn  their  own  spending  money. 

u.  The  country  school  should  have  a  well-equipped  play- 
ground. 

v.    Plowing  requires  as  much  skill  and  care  as  does  the  work 
of  many  machine  hands  in  the  mills  and  factories. 

w.  The  prairies  are  as  impressive  as  the  ocean. 

x.  The  hotbed  is  desirable  for  the  home  growing  of  winter 
vegetables. 

y.   Every  farm  or  village  boy  has  an  especially  good  chance 
to  educate  himself. 

z.    Rural  life  suffers  from  the  non-development  of  social 

opportunities. 

16-25.   Base  working-thoughts  and  paragraphs  of  proof  on 
these  topic  hints. 

a.  The  value  of  the  shepherd  dog. 

b.  Are  sheep  profitable? 

c.  Should  railway  cars  be  of  steel? 

d.  Concrete  fence  posts  are  better  than  wood  posts. 

e.  An  orchestra  at  the  farmer's  door. 

/.  The  advantage  gained  by  the  boy  who  reads  over  the 

boy  who  doesn't. 

g.  Young  people  as  owners  of  their  own  libraries. 

h.  The  best  use  of  money  by  a  boy  (or  girl). 

i.  Farm  boys  and  the  value  of  college  education. 

7.  College  men  and  a  return  to  the  farm  after  graduation. 

k.  The  country  boy  and  city  life. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  83 

Z.    The  city  boy  and  country  life. 

m.  Rural  industry:  its  opportunities. 

n.   Grade  crossings  and  the  safety  of  the  roads. 

o.   Baseball  as  an  aid  to  good  behavior. 

p.  Dancing:  is  it  a  wholesome  amusement? 

q.   Elaborate  dressing  by  girls. 

r.    The  skill  essential  to  successful  cooking. 

s.    The  value  of  the  silo. 

t.    Economy  in  home-mixed  fertilizers. 

u.  Colony  nouses  for  hens  (or  hogs). 

XXIV.  Building  up  thought  through  explanation 
of  cause  or  effect.  —  Now  and  then  one  finds  himself 
mainly  interested  in  thinking  out  one  or  another  of 
two  important  matters  about  the  phenomenon  (fact) 
that  he  is  considering.  He  wishes  to  discover  (a)  how 
the  fact  itself  came  about,  or  (b)  what  has  come  about  as 
a  consequence  of  this  fact.  In  other  words,  he  wishes, 
not  to  prove  that  the  fact  is  so,  but  to  uncover  the 
causes  that  produced  it  or  the  effects  that  it  has 
produced.  In  seeking  out  these  matters,  he  is  de- 
veloping thought  through  explanation  of  cause  or  effect. 

Illustrations: 

[Topic  thought.]  Many  a  man  has  looked  back  on  his  years 
of  early  struggle  with  thanksgiving.  [Explanation;  the  reason 
why.]  The  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  struggle  of  those 
years  taught  him  self-reliance,  initiative,  daring,  and  endurance. 
It  produced  in  him  the  qualities  of  achievement,  the  stuff  of 
success.  The  making  of  what  he  became,  he  perceived  to  have 
been  in  those  hard  experiences;  and  in  this  realization  he  found 
good  reason  for  thanksgiving. 

[Topic  thought.]  The  university  emphasized  "opportunity" 
too  much  and  "accomplishment"  too  little  —  welcomed  too 
many  unable  men  merely  because  they  were  ambitious,  and  per- 


84        THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

mitted  them  to  remain  only  because  they  were  pitiable.  [Effects, 
with  particularized  causes.]  Some  of  the  effects  of  this  policy  — 
as  soft-headed  as  it  was  tender-hearted  —  were  long  evident. 
Finding  so  much  done  for  them  out  of  sympathy,  students  de- 
manded still  more  —  out  of  selfishness.  Being  told  so  often 
that  the  institution  existed  for  them,  they  not  unnaturally  began 
to  act  as  if  they  owned  it.  Hearing  so  often  that  every  man 
should  be  given  an  education,  they  began  to  look  on  attendance 
as  an  inherent  right,  and  to  forget  that  the  right  is  inherent  only 
when  it  is  merited  through  good  behavior  and  good  scholarship. 
Finding  poor  scholarship  tolerated  in  their  classmates  on  account 
of  insufficient  preparation,  lack  of  mental  power,  or  inadequate 
study  consequent  on  the  need  of  laboring  as  a  means  to  self- 
support,  they  speedily  developed  on  their  own  part  an  indiffer- 
ence to  learning.  Scholarship  deteriorated;  insubordination 
increased.  Gross  ignorance  became  all  too  common.  Worst  of 
all,  in  the  guise  of  professional  and  vocational  education,  rank 
materialism  established  itself  and  grew  rampant.  Egregious 
philistinism  appeared  even  in  the  faculty.  The  humanities,  the 
civilizing  studies,  were  at  a  discount;  and  where  the  things 
wthat  belong  to  humanitas  were  despised,  the  things  of  barbarian 
quality  sprang  quickly  up  and  thrived.  For  years  there  was 
nothing  to  offset  these  results  of  a  weak  and  foolish  policy.  The 
university  had  been  founded  as  a  seat  of  culture  and  learning; 
even  its  most  loyal  friends  could  not  deny  that  it  had  become 
a  breeding-place  of  ignorance,  of  prejudice,  of  coarseness,  of 
idleness,  of  lax  and  degenerate  ideals. 

Formula:  In  stating  the  working-thought  for  development 
through  explanation  of  cause,  use  this  formula:  [topic  thought] ; 
the  cause  (or  reason)  being  [state  it]. For  develop- 
ment through  presentation  of  effect,  use  this  formula:  [topic 

thought];  the  result  (effect;  consequence)  being  [state  it]. 

Examples:  [Cause.]  Coarse  meal  is  less  healthful  than  fine 
meal;  the  cause  of  this  being  the  irritation  produced  in  the  diges- 
tive tract  by  the  coarse  particles  and  the  difficulty  with  which 
the  digestive  juices  penetrate  to  the  center  of  these  particles. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  85 

[Effect.]     Coarse  meal  is  less  healthful  than  fine 

meal;  the  consequence  being  that  poor  (that  is,  meal-using), 
families  have  shown  a  considerable  decrease  in  digestive  diseases 
with  the  improvement  of  milling  machinery. 

24.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXIV 

State   the   necessary   working-thoughts   and   from 
them  build  up  paragraphs  as  indicated. 

1-4.  Build  up  by  explaining  or  making  clear  the  cause  in- 
volved: 

a.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  students  who  have  ranked  high 
in  the  preparatory  school  to  fail  in  college. 

6.  The  College  (or  -  -  school,  etc.) 

has  so  far  failed  to  sustain  a  literary  magazine. 

c.  Reading  has  no  interest  for  some  persons. 

d.  The  bronco  was  at  one  time  almost  the  only  kind  of 

horse  used  in  the  plains  region  of  the  Great  Southwest. 

e.  A  great  tide  of  emigration  is  flowing  from  our  north- 

western states  into  the  Canadian  West. 

/.    The  powerful  threshing-machine,  drawn  and  worked  by  a 

traction  engine,  is  almost  unknown  in  New  England. 

5-8.   Build  up  by  making  clear  the  result,  influence,  or  effect : 

a.  In  the  East,  horseback  riding  has  been  mainly  an  amuse- 
ment. 

6.  In  the  business  districts  of  our  great  cities,  building  lots 
sell  for  an  immense  price. 

c.  Wireless  telegraphy  is  now  used  on  the  ships  of  all  the 

important  navigation  companies,   and  on  hundreds 
of  other  vessels. 

d.  The  idea  that  it  is  immodest  for  a  woman  to  engage 

in  outdoor,  or  other  active  exercises,  has  completely 
.  disappeared. 

e.  Thinkers  have  come  to  believe  that  many  of  the  world's 

political,  economic,  and  social  institutions  are  anti- 
quated. 


86        THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

9-12.  State  working-thoughts  and  build  up  paragraphs 
thereon,  in  which  either  cause  or  effect,  or  preferably 
both  are  explained. 

a  kas  f  or  two  generations  been  mainly  a  manu- 
facturing (or  agricultural)  state. 

b.  Rural  life  is  too  often  a  life  of  isolation. 

c.  Since    1860,    our    ideals    of    education    have   entirely 

changed. 

d.  Sailing  vessels  are  now  used  but  little  in  the  fishing 

industry. 

e.  Thousands  of  acres  are  stripped  of  their  forests  annu- 

ally. 

/.  In  twenty  years,  the  cost  of  living  has  increased  at  least 
thirty  per  cent. 

g.  More  of  our  "common  citizens"  now  take  a  personal 
interest  in  political  affairs  than  have  done  so  before 
since  the  war  between  the  states. 

h.  The  administrators  of  the  Carnegie  Foundation  for 
the  Advancement  of  Teaching  refuse  to  include  agri- 
cultural colleges  among  the  institutions  that  they 
approve. 

i.    Bicycling  is  again  growing  popular  as  an  amusement. 

j.  Most  game  is  nearly  extinct  in  Massachusetts  (or  Kan- 
sas, California,  etc.). 

k.   Our  college  (or  school)  has  no  rowing  crew. 

I.    Women  are  usually  dependent  on  men  for  support. 

ra.  Hunting  rifles  and  shotguns  are  far  less  common  in  the 
home  than  they  were  forty  years  ago. 

n.  The  newspaper  is  a  daily  necessity  in  a  multitude  of 
homes. 

o.  Medical  effort  now  directs  itself  largely  to  the  preven- 
tion, not  the  cure,  of  disease. 

p.  Agricultural  products  now  command  an  extremely 
high  price. 

q.  Slum  conditions  can  be  found  in  rural  no  less  than  in 
urban  communities. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  87 

r.  Schools  of  journalism  have  at  last  become  firmly  estab- 
lished. 

s.  Young  persons  often  yield  to  the  temptation  to  slight 
their  studies  persistently. 

t.  One  class  of  educators  hold  that  children  should  be 
taught  only  what  interests  them. 

u.  The  world  is  getting  back  to  the  ideal  held  by  the 
Athenians,  that  the  spirit,  the  mind,  and  the  body  are 
equally  important  in  one's  life. 

v.  Scientific  study  of  agriculture  has  taught  us  that  the  soil 
can  be  exhausted. 

w.  Sociology  has  made  us  realize  how  deplorable  the  con- 
ditions of  her  life  often  are  for  the  woman  on  the  farm. 

x.  The  spread  of  knowledge  through  even  remote  commu- 
nities has  produced  a  general  determination  to  make 
rural  life  as  interesting  and  as  much  worth  living  as 
any  other  sort  of  life. 

y.   A  good  laugh  is  a  sure  relief  from  mental  ills. 

3,   A  great  mind  must  often  remain  isolated. 


II.  PLANNING  THE  COMPOSITION 
A.  WORKING  OUT  THE  PLAN 

XXV.  What  is  meant  by  planning.  —  Because 
every  paragraph  in  a  composition  must  develop  a 
definite  part  of  the  central  thought,  it  is  necessary 
for  the  writer  to  determine  beforehand  these  two 
things :  First,  what  the  natural  divisions  are  into  which 
his  thought  falls,  in  order  that  he  may  know  how  many 
thought-blocks  (paragraphs  or  sentence-groups)  he 
must  have,  and  with  what  each  of  these  blocks  must 
deal;  see  II  and  IV.  Second,  what  is  the  best  order 
in  which  to  range  these  blocks.  In  thus  analyzing  his 
working-thought  and  determining  the  order  of  his  thought- 
blocks,  he  is  planning  his  paper.  The  plan  so  made 
is  sometimes  called  a  skeleton  outline,  a  framework, 
or  an  analytical  outline.  Remember  that  a  paragraph 
has  as  definite  a  plan  of  its  own  as  has  the  larger  com- 
position of  which  it  may  be  a  part.  See  VII. 

Note:  The  student  should  prepare  himself  to  do  hard  work  in 
planning  if  in  anything.  No  part  of  the  work  of  composition  is 
more  important,  either  for  practice  or  for  actual  success  in  writ- 
ing. No  kind  of  study  will  give  him  more  mastery  of  his  own 
thoughts  or  will  better  discipline  his  mind  to  think  correctly. 
Nothing  will  better  reveal  to  him  how  much  he  does  and  does 
not  know.  Nothing  will  do  more  to  extend  his  knowledge  and 
give  him  clearly  reasoned  convictions  in  place  of  hit-or-miss 

88 


PLANNING  THE  COMPOSITION  89 

impressions.  Skill  in  planning,  that  is,  in  organizing  thought, 
will  improve  his  work  in  all  his  studies  and  will  remain  useful 
(and,  indeed,  increase  in  usefulness)  to  him  through  life.  The 
analysis  of  thought  is  at  first  difficult  and,  to  many,  tedious;  but 
when  we  consider  that  the  activity  of  the  mind  in  attempting  to 
understand  the  world  in  which  we  live  is  the  noblest  form  of 
human  activity,  and  that  the  analysis  of  thought  is  not  only  a 
training  in  preparation  for  practical  life,  but  also  an  actual  em- 
ployment, in  the  very  moment,  of  our  intellect  in  this  noble  form  of 
activity  —  when  we  consider  this,  we  then  realize  that  the  results 
to  be  attained  are  more  than  worth  the  labor  they  cost. 

25.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXV 

1-5.  Change  the  following  topic  thoughts  into  working- 
thoughts.  State  (i)  how  many  paragraphs  a  theme  written 
upon  each  working-thought  would  contain,  and  (ii)  what  part 
of  the  working-thought  each  of  these  paragraphs  would  con- 
cern. 

a.  The  pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword. 
6.   Though  wealth  brings  ease,  it  brings  also  responsibility 
and  worry. 

c.  If  it  be  a  great  achievement  to  produce  a  new  variety 

of  apple,  it  is  also  a  great  achievement  to  produce  a 
useful  book. 

d.  The  man  who  said,  "The  more  I  see  of  men,  the  more  I 

like  dogs,"  was  either  a  fool,  a  pessimist,  or  a  liar. 

e.  There  are  many  varieties  of  oak  tree;   yet  all  oaks  are 

true  to  a  typical  form. 

/.  "The  paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave,"  but  it  is 
better  to  reach  the  grave  by  the  paths  of  glory  than 
by  the  paths  of  infamy. 

6.  Make,  in  writing,  a  clear,  careful  statement  of  your  reasons 
in  each  instance  for  dividing  the  working-thoughts  as  you  have 
divided  them. 

7.  Make  a  table  showing  the  order  in  which  the  paragraphs 
in  each  of  the  compositions  would  come.     Does  this  order  corre- 


90         THOUGHT- BUILDING  IN   COMPOSITION 

spond  with  the  order  of  the  parts  in  the  statement  of  the  working- 
thought?  If  not,  what  are  your  reasons  for  changing  this  order? 
Explain  fully. 

XXVI.  Terms  to  be  avoided.  —  Students  are 
frequently  told  that  a  plan,  or  a  composition  accord- 
ing to  a  plan,  should  have  "  an  introduction,  a  body, 
and  a  conclusion."  But  it  is  much  better  to  avoid 
these  terms. 

Note:  The  advice  here  mentioned  is  nothing  but  the  trite 
repetition,  with  a  mistaken  meaning,  of  an  assertion  that  is 
nearly  2300  years  old.  Aristotle,  the  first  writer  about  composi- 
tion whose  manual  has  come  down  to  us,  said  that  "Tragedy  is 
the  imitation  of  an  action  that  is  ...  whole  ....  A  whole 
is  that  which  has  a  beginning,  a  middle,  and  an  end."  But 
Aristotle  was  careful  to  explain  what  he  meant  by  "  beginning, " 
and  "middle,"  and  "end."  By  "beginning"  he  meant  begin- 
ning-place and  by  "end"  he  meant  stopping-place;  he  did  not 
mean  "introduction,"  and  "body,"  and  "conclusion"  in  the 
sense  in  which  we  are  likely  to  understand  these  terms.  To 
insist  that  every  plan  shall  include  an  "introduction,"  a  "body," 
and  a  "conclusion,"  is  a  serious  mistake.  Many  compositions 
really  have  and  need  no  introduction.  Just  so,  too,  many  com- 
positions have  no  separate  conclusion,  but  at  most  only  a  sum- 
mary that  is  scarcely  or  not  at  all  set  off  from  the  rest  of  the 
composition.  The  terms  mentioned  had,  therefore,  better  not 
be  used;  not  merely  because  they  represent  only  a  mechanical 
analysis  of  the  thought,  but  still  more  because  they  lead  to  seri- 
ous errors  in  plan  and  treatment. 

26.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXVI 

1.  Which  of  the  compositions  written  on  these  topic  thoughts 
would  require  an  introduction?  Why? 

a.  At  this  place,  we  should  stop  to  determine  the  meaning 
of  the  term  "undesirable  citizen." 


PLANNING  THE  COMPOSITION  91 

6.   Too  many  young  men  seek  money,  not  honor. 

c.  In  our  school,  we  especially  need  to  consider  the  ill 

influences  of  athletics. 

d.  Young  men  who  are  seeking  a  means  of  livelihood  should 

seriously  consider  agriculture. 

e.  Much  to  the  surprise  of  young  people  just  entering  upon 

life,  experience  quickly  proves  that  all  is  not  gold  that 
glisters. 

/.    If  it  be  true  that  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil,  we  must, 
nevertheless,  acknowledge  that  many  a  plant  of  the 
greatest  value  has  been  grafted  upon  this  root. 
g.   Things  are  not  always  what  they  seem. 
h.   Though  we  are  being  urged  to  adopt  state-wide  pro- 
hibition at  once,  we  should  not  go  too  fast;  for  what- 
ever the  merits  of  prohibition  itself,  there  are  just  now 
excellent  reasons  for  considering  the  proposed  action 
with  especial  care. 

2-5.  Make  outlines  upon  two  topic  thoughts  that  call  for 
introduction  and  on  two  that  call  for  none. 

6-8.  Write  out  the  compositions  for  which  these  outlines 
provide. 

9-10.  Examine  the  completed  compositions  carefully.  Which 
have  formal  conclusions?  Are  any  of  these  conclusions  un- 
necessary? Would  a  formal  conclusion  improve  the  compositions 
now  lacking  it?  If  so,  add  such  a  conclusion. 

11-12.  Examine  five  short  magazine  essays  (6-18  para- 
graphs) .  Which  have  formal  introductions?  Conclusions?  What 
reasons  do  you  see  why  the  introductions  and  conclusions  are 
absent  or  present?  Bring  the  essays  to  class,  and  recite  on 
them. 

13-14.  Examine  the  essays  of  Lamb  here  named,  for  the  use 
of  introduction  and  conclusion:  "Oxford  in  the  Vacation," 
"  Christ's  Hospital  Five-and-Thirty  Years  Ago,"  "  Mrs.  Battle's 
Opinion  on  Whist,"  "The  Old  and  the  New  School-Master," 
"Witches  and  Other  Night  Fears." 

15-16.  Do  the  same  with  any  five  of  Macaulay's  essays. 


92         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

17.  Write  a  theme,  based  in  part  on  questions  11-16,  dis- 
cussing the  employment  and  usefulness  of  introductions  and 
conclusions. 

18.  From  some  good  magazine,  or  from  good  daily  papers, 
select  five  editorials  (bring  them  to  class).     Which  of  them  begin 
with   an   introduction?      Which   end   with   a   conclusion?     In 
what  way  does  their  beginning  seem  to  you  effective?     Their 
ending? 

19.  Study  a  number  of  magazine  articles  (not  fiction-stories) 
to  observe  the  way  in  which  they  begin  and  end.     Write  a  theme 
about  this. 

XXVII.  Finding  the  starting-place. — Many  topics 
can  be  discussed  without  preliminary  explanation.  If 
this  is  not  the  case  with  the  working-thought  chosen, 
devote  the  first  thought-block  (paragraph  or  sentence- 
group)  to  the  necessary  explanation;  but  be  careful 
to  make  the  explanation  brief  and  compact  —  the 
briefer  the  better,  so  long  as  it  remain  clear.  Devote 
the  remaining  paragraphs  to  establishing  the  topic 
and  enforcing  it. 

Note  1:  For  a  composition  too  short  to  divide  into  para- 
graphs, i.e.,  for  a  composition  of  but  one  paragraph,  these  rules 
are  just  as  valid  as  for  a  longer  one.  One  sentence  or  a  group 
of  two  or  three  sentences  within  a  paragraph  may  be  looked  on,  for 
structural  purposes,  as  quite  corresponding  to  separate  paragraphs 
in  a  longer  composition  (see  II,  note  2;  IV,  note;  VII;  XXX). 
Keep  this  in  mind,  it  is  important. 

Note  2:  An  unnecessary  or  too  long  beginning  is  known  as  a 
false  beginning.  A  false  beginning  checks  or  kills  the  reader's 
interest  before  he  gets  to  the  important  matter.  False  beginnings 
are  exceedingly  common,  and  every  writer  should  closely  exam- 
ine his  work  to  make  sure  that  he  has  found  the  right  beginning- 
place. 


PLANNING  THE  COMPOSITION  93 

Note  3:  The  beginning  of  a  composition  is  of  great  import- 
ance in  two  ways:  first,  it  catches  or  loses  the  interest  of  the 
reader,  causing  him  to  stop  or  to  read  further;  second,  by  reason 
of  its  position  it  adds  prominence  to  the  matter  it  contains. 
The  careful  writer  will  therefore  seek  to  place  in  the  first  part 
of  the  paper  matter  that  is  both  interesting  and  important  (see 
VI). 

Note  4:  Ordinarily,  it  is  best  to  tell  at  Ihe  very  "beginning  what 
the  composition  is  about.  This  is  almost  invariably  true  when 
the  composition  is  expository,  i.e.,  is  intended  to  explain;  for 
every  reader  finds  that  to  flounder  through  details,  without  first 
knowing  what  they  are  meant  to  show,  is  confusing  and  exasper- 
ating. 

Note  5:  But  should  one  fear  that  what  he  wishes  to  say  will 
not  be  well  received  if  he  explain  his  purpose  at  the  outset,  he 
is  at  liberty  to  lead  up  to  his  main  thought  gradually,  in  order 
to  carry  his  readers  forward  without  arousing  unnecessary 
opposition  in  their  minds.  In  such  cases,  the  preliminary  matter 
will  be  selected  to  fit  the  circumstances.  It  is  mostly  in  argu- 
mentation that  such  an  approach  is  wise;  in  other  kinds  of 
writing,  one  need  not  let  this  consideration  embarrass  him  in 
his  beginning.  Greater  force,  increased  clearness,  or  a  stronger 
impression,  sometimes  results,  too,  from  postponing  the  asser- 
tion of  the  topic  thought  until  late  in  the  paper  (VI;  XXVIII); 
but  the  beginning  and  middle  of  the  composition  nlust  then  be 
kept  especially  clear,  interesting,  and  progressive,  lest  the  reader 
grow  confused  or  lose  interest. 

27.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXVII 

1.  Consider  the  working-thoughts  stated  in  questions  1-5, 
set  25.     Which  of  them  call  for  introductory  matter  in  the 
composition? 

2.  State  what  introductory  matter  each  of  these  working- 
thoughts  will  require. 


94         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

3.  Taking  one  of  the  working-thoughts  that  require  intro- 
duction, write  out  a  paragraph  containing  this  prefatory  matter. 
Then  reduce  the  paragraph  so  written  to  its  most  compact  form 
< — not  more  than  one  sentence,  if  possible.     Which  form  is  the 
better? 

4.  Repeat  with  another  of  the  working-thoughts  the  exercise 
directed  in  question  3. 

5.  Examine  these  two  introductory  paragraphs  to  see  if  they 
meet  the  requirements  stated  in  notes  2-3,  Section  XXVII. 
If  necessary,  recast  them. 

6.  Test  some  recent  pieces  of  your  writing  —  compositions, 
diary  entries,  letters,  test  papers,  etc.,  —  for  false  beginning. 
Write  a  theme  telling  what  you  discovered  about  your  work. 

7.  Upon  some  one  of  these  subjects,  write  a  composition; 
then  test  it  under  notes  1,  2,  3,  Section  XXVII:   My  Christmas 
visit  at  grandfather's;    The  rabbit  hunt;    Our  class  picnic;    A 
theater  party;  A  Christmas  (New  Year's,  etc.)  ball  A 

8.  From  a  city  daily  paper  clip  two  " stories"  (news  reports) 
that  came  by  telegraph,  and  two  that  were  "  locals."     Notice 
(a)  how  they  begin;    (b)  what  introductory  matter  they  con- 
tain;   (c)  at  what  places  you  could  cut  off  the  story  without 
losing  any  essential  facts. 

9.  Write  two  news  stories,  following  the  plan  of  the  "stories" 
you  studied  under  question  8.     Let  one  be  but  a  paragraph;  the 
other,  three  paragraphs. 

XXVIII.  Finding  the  stopping-place.  —  The  stop- 
ping-place of  any  piece  of  writing  determines  itself. 
When  the  paragraph,  or  group  of  sentences,  that  repre- 
sents the  last  "  block  "  of  thought,  i.e.,  division  of  the 
plan,  has  been  ended,  nothing  remains  to  be  done  except 
(perhaps)  to  re-present  the  topic  thought  in  some 
form  of  summary;  and  even  this  may  already  have 
been  accomplished  in  the  final  part  of  the  composition. 


PLANNING  THE  COMPOSITION  95 

One  has,  therefore,  but  to  analyze  the  thought  clearly 
and  range  the  thought-divisions  effectively;  the  proper 
stopping-place  will  be  determined  in  doing  this.  It 
will  be  the  place  where  the  closing  paragraph  reaches  an 
effective  ending.  But  make  sure  that  the  ending  is 
effective. 

Note  1 :  Do  not  be  afraid  to  stop  when  you  are  through.  False 
endings  —  those  that  trail  on  after  the  thought  has  been  com- 
pleted —  are  worse  than  false  beginnings,  for  the  last  part  of  a 
composition  ought  always  to  be  occupied  with  something  that  thor- 
oughly and  conclusively  brings  the  central  thought  before  the  mind. 

Note  2:  A  formal  summary  is  not  always  needed.  A  well 
written  composition  often  comes  to  a  close  so  effectively  that  the 
addition  of  a  formal  summary  would  be  unfortunate.  A  paper  that 
moves  ahead  steadily,  and  carries  the  reader  on  with  it  —  so 
that  as  he  lays  it  aside  he  feels  himself  to  have  reached  "the  con- 
clusion of  the  whole  matter"  — does  not  need  to  turn  back  on 
itself  by  repeating  anew  its  topic  thought.  A  writer,  therefore, 
should  be  as  careful  not  to  add  a  summary  when  none  is  needed, 
as  he  should  be  to  add  one  when  without  it  the  composition  would 
be  incomplete.  The  common-sense  test  is  this:  Has  the  com- 
position presented  its  working-thought  clearly  and  fully  and  from 
beginning  to  end?  —  does  it  give  the  reader  a  " grasp"  of  the  topic 
and  end  well?  If  so,  it  is  done. 

Note  3:  The  order  of  the  divisions  ought  to  be  such  as  to 
make  the  central  thought,  or  topic,  appear  in  its  strongest  aspect 
at  the  end,  followed  by  nothing  more  than  the  summary,  pro- 
vided a  summary  be  necessary.  If  this  climax,  or  rise  in  interest 
and  strength,  be  not  provided  for,  the  composition  will  lose 
force  and  close  weakly  (see  VI).  This  sequence  can  best  be 
made  sure  by  putting  the  divisions  of  the  working-thought  in  the 
order  they  should  have  in  the  completed  composition,  and  then  ad- 
hering to  the  working-thought  strictly.  But  compare  Section  VI, 
note  2,  and  sections  LI-LIII, 


96         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

28.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXVIII 

1.  Test  recent  pieces  of  your  writing  —  diary  entries,  letters, 
compositions,  test  papers,  etc.,  for  false  ending.     Write  a  theme 
telling  what  you  discovered. 

2.  In  the  same  way,  test  the  composition  written  as  directed 
in  question  7,  set  27. 

3.  Test  the  same  writings  for  climax  and  emphatic  ending. 
In  doing  this,  examine  anew  the  newspaper,  magazine,  and  book 
paragraphs  studied  under  set  6. 

4.  Write  a  composition,  paying  particular  attention  to  the 
ending. 

5.  Study  the  news  stories  that  you  used  in  question  8,  set  27. 
What  do  you  observe  about  their  ending?     How  much  of  each 
could  be  omitted?     Ask  a  newspaper  man  to  tell  you  the  reason 
for  this  structure.     Compare  several  editorial  articles  with  these 
news  stories.     Do  they  end  in  the  same  way?     If  you  find  the 
endings  different  in  form,  how  do  you  account  for  the  difference? 
Write  a  composition,  presenting  your  conclusions. 

6.  Rewrite  the  ending  of  five  of  your  papers,  making  the  con- 
clusion more  condensed  and  emphatic.     If  possible,  end  with  a 
short,  epigrammatic  sentence. 

XXIX.   The  main  development  of  the  thought.  — 

Everything  that  comes  between  the  beginning-place 
and  the  stopping-place  is  of  course  a  part  of  the  main 
development  of  the  topic  thought;  and  it  is  in  this 
part  that  the  most  important  analysis  and  presentation 
of  the  thought  will  be  made.  For  this  reason,  it  calls 
for  very  close  attention;  it  cannot  be  slighted,  nor 
hastily  analyzed,  nor  carelessly  expressed,  nor  ar- 
ranged in  any  "  jumbled  "  order,  without  affecting 
the  presentation  of  the  thought  vitally. 


PLANNING  THE  COMPOSITION  97 

29.  EXEKCISES  ON  SECTION  XXIX 

I.  Rewrite  the  composition  prepared  under  question  4,  set  28, 
expanding,  amplifying,  and  in  every  way  that  you  can,  making 
the  main  development  of  the  topic  better.     Compare  Section  V, 
note  2. 

2-6.  Write  other  compositions,  paying  careful  attention  to 
the  main  development  of  the  thought. 

7-10.  Write  three  editorial  articles  of  one  paragraph  each, 
seeking  especially  an  effective  ending. 

II.  Reconstruct  these  paragraphs  enough  to  give  a  different 
form  of  ending. 

12.  Study  the  way  in  which  you  began  these  paragraphs. 
Reconstruct  their  beginning.     Are  any  of  them  improved  by 
the  change?     Why? 

13.  Construct  a  different  beginning  for  each  of  the  editorial 
articles  selected  under  question  18,  set  26.     Have  you  succeeded 
in  improving  the  paragraph?     In  what  respect? 

14.  Reconstruct  the  endings.     Are  they  bettered? 

15.  Is  it  possible  to  end  any  of  these  paragraphs  with  a  single 
striking  sentence  instead  of  a  longer  conclusion?    Try  it. 

XXX.  Thinking  out  a  composition.  —  To  plan  a 
theme  is  merely  to  think  it  out  beforehand,  as  any 
good  workman  thinks  out  a  job  before  attempting  to 
go  on  with  it.  The  thinking  out  of  a  composition 
is  simple  enough  as  soon  as  one  becomes  accustomed 
to  doing  it. 

First,  one  must  decide  upon  his  topic. 

Second,  he  must  think  the  topic  over,  and  decide 
definitely  what  he  needs  to  do  in  order  to  establish  this 
topic.  Sometimes  the  topic  will  need  to  be  explained; 
again,  it  will  call  for  narration  of  events  or  description 
of  objects;  and  sometimes  it  will  call  for  the  use  of 


98         THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN   COMPOSITION 

two  or  more  of  these  means  of  development.  No 
one  but  the  writer  himself  can  do  much  toward 
finding  out  what  it  does  require;  but  find  this  out 
he  must.  A  consideration  of  Section  XXXI,  note  2, 
will  make  this  plainer;  see  also  Sections  X  and  XIV- 
XXIV. 

When  the  writer  has  determined  his  topic  thought 
and  the  method  of  development  that  it  requires,  he 
is  at  the  point  where  (third)  he  must  determine  just 
what  blocks  of  thought  (Section  IV)  he  needs  in  order 
thus  to  explain,  prove,  narrate,  describe,  or  otherwise 
present  in  detail  his  topic  thought;  that  is,  he  is  at 
the  point  where  he  needs  to  formulate  his  working- 
thought.  He  formulates  this  by  indicating  in  very 
condensed  form  the  substance  of  each  of  these  thought- 
blocks  and  then  incorporating  these  condensed  statements 
in  the  predicate  of  the  topic-thought  sentence  that  he  has 
already  stated.  (Review  Section  VIII  carefully.) 

After  laying  out  in  the  working-thought  the  general 
plan  of  his  "  job,"  the  writer  then  (fourth)  takes  up 
the  divisions  of  the  working-thought  one  by  one,  and 
works  them  out  in  more  detail.  Each  of  them  may 
itself  have  divisions,  subdivisions,  and  even  sub- 
subdivisions;  and  he  must  find  fit  words  in  which 
to  phrase  these,  and  a  thoroughly  effective  order  in 
which  to  range  them.  This  detailed  development 
and  enlargement  of  the  working-thought  is  what  we 
usually  describe  as  "  planning  "  or  "  outlining  ";  and 
it  is  so  important  that  we  will  study  it  more  fully 
by  itself. 


PLANNING  THE  COMPOSITION  99 

Note  1 :  Exactly  the  same  process  is  to  be  followed  in  thinking 
out  a  paragraph;  a  paragraph  must  be  clearly  thought  out  in  ad- 
vance, quite  as  a  longer  composition  must  be.  Read  Section  VII; 
Section  XXVII,  note  1. 

Note  2:  By  constantly  bearing  in  mind  the  directions  given 
in  Section  VIII,  especially  notes  2  and  3,  the  student  will  hold 
himself  to  a  clear  perception  of  his  working-thought  and  thereby 
immensely  aid  himself  in  the  effective  utterance  of  his  ideas. 

30.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXX 

1.  Review  your  past  compositions.     For  how  many  did  you 
state  working-thoughts  before  beginning  to  write?    State  working- 
thoughts  now  for  all  the  rest. 

2.  Test  these  working-thought  statements.     Does  each  one 
accurately  present  the  actual  working-thought  that  controlled 
the  development  of  the   composition?     Recast  all  the  topics 
that  are  thus  shown  to  need  recasting. 

3.  Take  these  verified  and  amended  working-thoughts,  dis- 
regarding the  compositions  to  which  they  belong.     For  each, 
make  a  list   of  the  things   that   must  be  presented   in  order 
firmly  to  establish  the  working-thought. 

4.  Now  compare  each  of  the  original  compositions  with  the 
corresponding  list  prepared  under  question  3.     Does  the  com- 
position contain  all  that  the  list  shows  it  should  contain?    If 
not,  insert  at  the  proper  place  whatever  is  thus  found  to  be  lack- 
ing toward  complete  treatment.     Similarly,  strike  out  whatever 
is  found  that  is  superfluous. 

5.  Rearrange  the  items  in  your  lists,  and  state  them  more 
fully  and  clearly  (Section  V,  note  2).    When  you  have  finished 
this  work,  you  should  have  a  good  outline,  or  plan  of  composi- 
tion, for  each  of  the  working-thoughts. 

6.  Compare  the  compositions  as  you  wrote  them  first,  with 
these  outlines.     Do  compositions  and  outlines  agree  in  order 
and   content?     Make   all    improvements   that   suggest   them- 
selves. 


100      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

7.  Rewrite  the  compositions,  following  the  new  outlines  in 
detail. 

8.  Construct  a  detailed  outline,  proceeding  thus: 

a.  State  topic  and  working-thought. 

b.  Set  down  the  divisions  of  the  working-thought  as  divi- 

sions, or  thought-blocks  (headings)  in  a  skeleton  plan. 
(The  working-thought  should  contain  several  main 
blocks.) 

c.  Under  each  of  the  headings  set  down  according  to  (6), 

make  two  or  more  subheadings.  The  number  of 
subdivisions,  subheadings,  or  subthought-blocks  under 
each  main  heading  will  depend  on  the  logical,  common- 
sense  division  of  the  main  block  into  its  natural  parts; 
have  as  many  subdivisions  as  good  sense  shows  there 
are  naturally.  There  should  be  at  least  two. 

d.  In  the  same  way,  under  each  subdivision,  set  down 

sub-subdivisions. 

9-12.   Make  other  detailed  outlines,  following  the  directions 
given  in  question  8. 

Illustration: 

When  completed,  these  outlines  would  have  this  form:  — 

Topic: 

Working-thought : 

Outline: 

I.   [First   main    division    (thought-block)    of    the   working- 
thought.] 

A.  [Subdivision  of  (I)]. 

1.  [Subdivision  of  (A),  or  sub-subdivision  of  (I).] 

2.  [Subdivision  of  (A),  or  sub-subdivision  of  (I).] 

3.  [Subdivision  of  (A),  or  sub-subdivision  of  (I).] 

B.  [Subdivision  of  (I).] 

1.  [Subdivision  of  (B),  or  sub-subdivision  of  (I).] 

2.  [Subdivision  of  (B),  or  sub-subdivision  of  (I).] 

3.  [Subdivision  of  (B),  or  sub-subdivision  of  (I).] 

C.  [If  there  be  a  subdivision  (G).] 


PLANNING  THF  COMPOSITie^  1 01 

II.  [Second  main  block  in  working-thought.] 
A. 

B.     }•  as  before. 
C. 

B.  ORDERING  AND  STATING  THE  PLAN 

XXXI.  Review.  —  Important  directions  about 
necessary  forms  of  statement  have  been  given  in 
VIII  and  XXVI.  These  should  now  be  reviewed. 

Note  1:  According  to  XXVI,  the  italicized  parts  of  the  fol- 
lowing outline  are  incorrectly  stated. 

Subject:   The  incidents  of  a  buffalo  hunt. 
Topic  thought:  The  incidents  of  a  buffalo  hunt  in  which  I 
took  part  were:  — 

Working-thought:   [to  be  stated.] 
I.   Introduction:  The  preparations. 
II.  Body:  The  hunt. 
III.   Conclusion:  The  return. 

Note  2:  In  such  an  outline,  the  main  development  of  the 
thought  (XXIX)  is  not  made  to  appear  any  more  important  than 
the  parts  that  are  of  merely  introductory  or  summary  use;  the 
plan  is  without  proportion  (VI).  Moreover,  it  reveals  a  most 
slipshod  analysis;  for  it  does  not  indicate  any  of  the  leading 
incidents  of  the  hunt,  although  these  are  just  the  interesting 
matters  that  the  topic  requires  the  writer  to  present.  A  far 
better  outline  would  be  this  (use  the  same  subject  and  topic 
statement;  restate  the  working-thought): 
I.  Preparations  and  start. 
II.  Finding  the  herd. 

III.  Efforts  to  stalk  the  game. 

IV.  The  stampede  and  slaughter. 
V.  A  narrow  escape. 

VI.  Results  of  the  hunt:  record  of  buffalo  killed. 


10?      TJJOUGHT- BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

31.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXXI 

1.  Reconsider  the  various  outlines  prepared  under  question  5, 
set  30,  and  improve  them  —  whenever  you  can  do  so  —  by 
following  the  suggestions  contained  in  notes  1  and  2. 

2.  Especially  consider  the  same  outlines  with  reference  to 
the  proportion,  or  space-emphasis,  indicated  by  them  for  the 
different  thought-blocks. 

3.  Make  lists  of  working-thoughts  as  follows,  each  to  provide 
for  a  composition  of  from  three  to  five  paragraphs: 

a.  Ten  that  call  for  proof. 

6.  Ten  that  call  for  explanation. 

c.  Ten  that  call  for  description. 

d.  Ten  that  call  for  narration. 

4.  Turn  five   working-thoughts   of   each   ten   into   a   more 
literary  form,  such  as  could  be  embodied  in  a  composition  that 
is  meant  not  merely  to  be  clear  and  definite,  but  also  to  be 
somewhat  finished  in  style.     In  this  form,  they  need  not  be 
so  detailed;  they  are  likely  to  be  topic-statements  rather  than 
working-thoughts,  strictly  so  called. 

XXXII.  Numbering  the  divisions.  —  When  it  is 
completed,  the  plan  will  be  a  well  ordered  list,  or  table, 
of  headings  and  subheadings.  Some  of  these  headings, 
or  divisions,  will  be  of  one  rank,  some  of  another;  that 
is,  some  will  be  main  divisions,  some  will  be  sub- 
divisions under  these  main  divisions,  and  yet  others 
will  in  turn  be  divisions  of  the  subdivisions.  In  the 
numbering  and  lettering  of  these  headings,  there 
should  accordingly  be  a  system;  and  this  system 
must  conform  to  the  following  rule:  — 

All  divisions  of  the  same  rank  shall  be  indicated  by 
figures  or  letters  of  the  same  series,  or  order;  main 


PLANNING  THE  COMPOSITION  103 

divisions  by  one  series  of  figures  or  letters,  subdivisions 
of  the  first  rank  by  another  series,  subdivisions  of  the 
second  rank  by  a  third  series,  and  so  on. 

Note:  A  good  system  for  plans  that  do  not  run  into  extensive 
division  is  this: 

For  main  headings,  Roman  numerals  (I,  II,  etc.). 

For  first-rank  subdivisions,  capital  letters  (A,  B,  etc.). 

For    second-rank    subdivisions,    Arabic    numerals    (1,    2, 

etc.). 
For  third-rank  subdivisions,  small  letters  (a,  6,  etc.). 

This  system  is  used  in  the  following  (uncompleted) 
outline. 

Subject:    School  fraternities. 

Topic  thought:   School  fraternities  have  a  harmful  influence 
on  the  pupil  and  on  the  school. 
Working-thought:   [to  be  stated.] 

I.  Introductory:  It  is  proposed  that  we  abolish  fraternities 
in  our  school.  Abolition  seems  wise,  for  two  reasons, 
namely:  — 

II.   Such  organizations  have  a  harmful  influence  on  the  pupil, 
because  — 

A.   They  frequently  give  him  too  high  an  estimate  of 
his  own  importance,  for  — 

1.  They  make  him  "  snobbish, "  for  — 

a.  They  cut  him  off  from  the  "  democratic " 
influence  of  the  school  outside  of  his 
small  fraternity. 

6.  They  lead  him  to  think  himself  better  than 
his  fellows. 

2.  They  give  him  large  responsibility  in  affairs  that 

are  in  truth  of  small  importance. 


104      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

B.   They  frequently  interfere  with  his  studies,  for  — 
1. 


III.   

(To  secure  practice,  the  pupil  should  complete  this 
outline.  In  completing  division  III,  compare  Section 
XXXIII,  note  3.) 

32.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXXII 

1-5.  Make  analytical  outlines  of  several  whole  compositions, 
paying  attention  especially  to  the  numbering  and  lettering  of 
the  divisions.  Selections  for  analysis  can  be  found  in  books; 
good  material  for  such  study  is  often  quoted  in  textbooks  on 
rhetoric;  editorial  and  magazine  articles  are  excellent  for  the 
purpose. 

XXXIII.  Wording  the  divisions.  —  In  wording 
the  main  headings  of  an  outline,  three  objects  are 
to  be  kept  in  mind.  The  first  is,  to  word  each 
division  so  clearly  that  there  can  be  no  mistake  about 
its  meaning.  The  second  is,  to  word  it  so  that  there 
can  be  no  mistake  about  the  manner  in  which  it  con- 
nects itself  with  the  topic.  The  third  is,  to  word  it 
so  that  there  can  be  no  mistake  about  the  way  in 
which  it  connects  itself  with  the  other  divisions  of  the 
topic. 


PLANNING  THE  COMPOSITION  105 

Note  1:  The  same  rules  that  govern  the  wording  of  main  di- 
visions govern  the  wording  of  subdivisions,  sub-subdivisions,  etc. 

Note  2:  Outlines  may  be  worded  more  or  less  explicitly  ac- 
cording to  circumstances.  Whenever  the  thought  is  complex  or 
calls  for  much  accuracy  of  statement,  the  headings  are  best  put  as 
declarative  sentences.  In  outlines  of  argument,  that  is,  in  briefs, 
this  form  of  statement  should  always  be  employed;  and  to 
increase  the  definiteness  of  the  statement,  one  does  well  to  prefix 
such  words  as  " because,"  "for,"  "since,"  to  the  sentences,  as 
in  the  outline  in  Section  XXXII,  note  1.  On  the  other  hand, 
simple,  clear  thought  may  occasionally  be  expressed  explicitly 
enough  by  headings  that  consist  of  no  more  than  phrases  or 
even  single  nouns  (see  the  outline,  XXXI,  note  2).  But  the 
more  complete  forms  are  always  preferable. 

Note  3 :  All  headings  of  the  same  rank  are  to  have  the  same 
general  form  of  expression.  In  completing  the  outline  in  Section 
XXXII,  note,  division  III  should,  for  example,  be  worded  in  the 
same  way  as  division  II;  thus:  "Such  organizations  have  a 
harmful  influence  on  the  school."  In  the  same  outline,  A  and 
B  under  II  are  worded  alike.  This  is  well;  for  if  B  read: 
"Studies  are  nearly  always  interfered  with,"  we  should  not  see 
so  clearly  that  B  is  a  partner  of  A  in  proving  the  assertion  that 
fraternities  "have  a  harmful  influence  on  the  pupil."  Any 
neglect  of  this  parallel  statement  may  result  in  obscuring  the 
thought. 

Another  example: 
Wrong: 

I.  Preparations  and  start. 
II.   We  try  to  find  the  herd. 

III.  Efforts  to  stalk  the  game. 

IV.  The  herd  stampeded. 

All  the  headings  should  be  stated  either  in  phrase 
form  (as  in  I  and  III),  or  else  in  sentence  form  (as  in 
II);  the  form  in  IV  is  awkward  and  ambiguous;  we  do 
not  know  whether  "stampeded"  is  a  finite  verb  or  a 
participle. 


106      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

Right: 

I.  Preparing;  making  the  start. 

II.  Trying  to  find  the  herd. 

III.  Trying  to  stalk  the  game. 

IV.  Stampeding  the  herd  and  killing  the  game. 
V.  Ending  the  hunt  and  returning  to  camp. 

See  also  XXXI,  note  2. 

Note  4:  What  is  said  in  note  3  about  the  wording  of  A  and 
B  under  II  will  serve  to  direct  attention  to  the  need  of  wording 
each  division  so  that  there  can  be  no  mistake  about  the  way  in  which 
it  connects  itself  with  its  topic  thought.  The  correct  wording 
("They  nearly  always  interfere  with  his  study")  leaves  no 
possibility  of  mistaking  the  relation  of  this  division  to  the  topic 
that  it  helps  to  develop;  plainly  it  helps  to  prove  that  "Frater- 
nities have  a  harmful  influence  on  the  pupil."  But  the  other 
wording  ("Studies  are  nearly  always  interfered  with")  scarcely 
makes  any  connection  show  forth  between  the  division  and  its 

topic. 

33.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXXIII 

1-4.  Prepare  detailed  outlines  developing  the  working- 
thoughts  called  for  under  question  3,  set  31. 

5-6.  Revise  the  outlines  prepared  under  question  5,  set  30, 
to  make  them  meet  the  requirements  of  Section  XXXIII. 

7-9.  In  the  same  way,  revise  the  outlines  prepared  under 
set  32. 

10.  Study  the  form  in  which  the  subdivisions  are  stated  in 
this  plant  — 

I .  The  first  main  part  of  a  wagon  (the  tongue  and  its  parts) . 

A.  The  purpose  of  the  tongue. 

B.  The  parts  of  the  tongue. 

C.  The  structure  of  the  tongue. 

D.  The  materials  of  the  tongue. 

II.  The  second  main  part  of  a  wagon  (the  front  axle  and 
wheels). 

A.  The  purpose  of  the  front  axle  and  wheels. 

B.  The  parts  of  the  front  axle  and  wheels. 


PLANNING  THE  COMPOSITION  107 

C.  The  structure  of  the  front  axle  and  wheels. 

D.  The  materials  of  the  front  axle  and  wheels. 
Observe:    a.  That  the  principles  explained  in  XXXIII  and 

notes  1-3  apply  to  the  statement  of  sub- 
divisions as  fully  as  to  the  statement  of  main 
divisions. 

b.  That  here  and  elsewhere  (as  in  note  3)  all 

the  headings  that  are  of  equal  rank  are 
stated  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  same  form. 

c.  That  main  division  II  contains  the  same  sub- 

divisions as  does  main  division  I.  It  is  not 
always  possible  to  have  identical  subdivisions 
xunder  all  the  headings  that  are  of  like  rank; 
but  whenever  it  is  possible,  all  the  divisions 
that  are  of  equal  rank  should  be  subdivided 
in  the  same  way. 
11.  Complete  the  outline  begun  in  question  10,  by  filling  in 

the  subdivisions  under  divisions  III  and  IV. 

12-13.   Further  expand  the  plan  by  stating  the  subdivisions 

of  A,  B,  C,  D,  etc.,  under  I,  II,  III,  and  IV,  respectively. 

14.  Revise  the  outline  as  now  completed,  turning  all  the 
headings  you  can  into  assertions. 

15.  Complete  the  statement  of  working-thought  that  follows; 
then  prepare  a  brief  upon  it.     Statement:    Good  roads  benefit 
the  community  in ways ;  namely : 

16-20.  Taking  topics  from  set  23,  state  working-thoughts 
and  develop  detailed  outlines  for  five  paragraphs.  Pay  especial 
attention  to  the  wording  of  the  headings. 

XXXIV.  Making  false  divisions.  —  A  division  is 
a  division;  it  is  a  part,  not  a  whole.  Hence,  when 
one  divides  a  topic  or  any  part  of  a  topic,  he  must  have 
at  least  two  parts  as  a  result.  It  is  thoroughly  illogical 
to  set  down  a  heading  as  if  it  were  a  division  unless 
there  be  at  least  one  other  heading  to  balance  it. 


108      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN   COMPOSITION 

Note  1:   One  form  of  false  division  states  a  single  thought  as 
if  it  consisted  of  parts. 
Wrong: 

I.   Granting  of  the  charter. 

A.   By  the  board  of  aldermen. 
Right: 

I.   Granting  of  the  charter  by  the  board  of  aldermen. 
Manifestly,  if  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  said  about  the 
granting  of  the  charter  than  that  it  was  granted  by  the  aldermen, 
this  is  all  a  single,  undivided  thought.     But  if  something  more 
is  to  be  said,  division  is  correct: 
Right: 

I.   Granting  of  the  charter. 

A.  By  the  board  of  aldermen. 

B.  With  opposition  from  citizens; 

Note  2 :  A  second  form  of  false  division  states  the  topic  thought 
as  if  it  were  merely  a  division  of  itself. 
Wrong: 

Subject:  Japanese  friendship  with  the  United  States. 
I.   Japanese  friendship  with  the  United  States  is  likely 
to  continue  for  three  reasons;  namely:  — 

A.  Japan  owes  us  friendship  because  we  introduced 

her  to  modern  civilization. 

B.  Japan  lacks  resources  to  engage  in  a  war  with 

a  powerful  foe. 

C.  Japan  needs  our  support  in  carrying  out  her 

plans  in  Asia. 

Right: 

Subject:  Japanese  friendship  with  the  United  States. 
Topic   thought:    Japanese  friendship  with  the  United 
States  is  likely  to  continue  for  three  reasons;  namely: — 
I.  Japan  owes,  etc. 
II.  Japan  lacks  resources,  etc. 
III.  Japan  needs,  etc. 


PLANNING  THE  COMPOSITION  109 

Note  3 :   Another  form  of  false  division  arises  when  only  part 
*>/  the  divisions  are  statedt  others  being  implied,  though  not  stated. 
Wrong: 
II.  His  character. 

A.   Cause  of  peculiarities. 
(See  also  note  1.) 
Right: 

II.   His  character. 

A.  Moodiness. 

B.  Inclination  to  dissipation. 

C.  Dislike  of  clergymen. 

D.  Cause  of  these  peculiarities. 
Second  right  form: 

II.  His  character. 

A.  Its  peculiarities. 

1.  Moodiness. 

2.  Inclination  to  dissipation. 

3.  Dislike  of  cjergymen. 

B.  Cause  of  its  peculiarities. 
Third  right  form: 

II.   Peculiarities  of  his  character. 

A.  Moodiness. 

B.  Inclination  to  dissipation. 

C.  Dislike  of  clergymen. 

III.  Cause  of  these  peculiarities. 

34.  FOR   EXERCISES    ON    SECTION    XXXIV,    SEE    EXERCISES 
FOLLOWING  XXXVI 

XXXV.   Making  subdivisions  equal  main  divisions. 

—  In  a  composition  that  has  not  been  thought  out 
clearly,  subdivisions  are  likely  to  appear  as  main 
divisions.  Bear  in  mind  this:  The  main  headings 
must  stand  for  the  larger  blocks  of  thought  that  together 
build  up  the  composition.  Parts  of  the  thought  that  are 


110      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

too  small  in  themselves  to  serve  as  thought-blocks  must 
therefore  be  stated  as  subheadings.  The  main  thought- 
blocks  are  divisions  of  the  working-thought. 

Note  1:  In  many  cases,  a  more  explicit  statement  of  the  head 
thought  will  prevent  the  writer  from  making  a  subthought  into  a 
main  thought. 

Wrong  division: 

III.  Evils  of  cribbing. 

A.  Unjust  to  honest  students. 

B.  Unfair  to  the  school. 

IV.  Injurious  to  the  student's  own  character. 
Right  division: 

III.  Evils  of  cribbing  (or,  three  evils  of  cribbing). 

A.  Unjust  to  honest  students. 

B.  Unfair  to  the  school. 

C.  Injurious  to  the  student's  own  character. 

Had  the  head  thought  been  stated  explicitly  —  thus:  "The 
evils  of  cribbing  are  three,  namely" — it  is  unlikely  that  the 
third  evil  would  have  been  mentioned  in  a  main  heading  when  it 
so  manifestly  belongs  in  a  subheading.  "  Three  evils  of  cribbing  " 
is  explicit  and  would  prevent  the  error. 

Note  2 :  Sometimes  a  heading  or  a  subheading  will  be  so  broadly 
stated  that  it  is  equivalent  to  the  topic ,  or  indeed  to  the  subject,  of  the 
composition.  Thus: 

Subject:  Building  our  log  cabin. 

Topic  thought:  The  building  of  our  log  cabin  involved 

procedure  as  follows:  — 
Wrong  (the  fault  is  in  heading  IV) : 

I.  Introductory:  The  how  and  the  why  of  our  cabin. 
II.  Selecting  a  site. 

III.  Getting  materials. 

IV.  Building  the  cabin  (identical  with  subject). 


PLANNING  THE  COMPOSITION  111 

Right: 

I-III.  (as  before). 

IV.  Preparing  the  materials. 

V.  Raising  the  cabin. 

VI.  Finishing  the  cabin. 

Clearly  IV,  V,  and  VI,  as  last  given,  are  all  included  in  IV  of 
the  " wrong"  example.  Indeed,  this  is  so  broadly  worded  that 
it  is  equivalent  to  the  subject  itself;  that  is,  what  should  be  a 
portion  of  the  working-thought  is  so  stated  that  it  includes  as 
much  as  the  topic  itself  includes.  Compare  XXXIV,  note  2. 

35.  FOR   EXERCISES   ON   SECTION   XXXV,    SEE   EXERCISES 
FOLLOWING  XXXVI 

XXXVI.   Making  main  divisions  into  subdivisions. 

—  The  stating  of  main  headings  as  if  they  were  sub- 
headings is  likewise  a  common  fault  in  loosely  thought 
out  plans  (compare  XXXV). 

Note  1:  An  inspection  of  the  following  plan  shows  that  it 
concerns  " Experiences  on  a  trip  to  New  York,"  and  that  five 
headings  will  indicate  all  the  matters  of  interest  that  make  up 
the  day's  experiences.  But  the  plan  contains  only  three  main 
headings. 
Wrong: 

I.  The  start  from  home. 
II.  Arrival  at  Grand  Central  station. 
1.  Walk  to  department  store. 

a.  Purchases  at  the  store  (see  also  XXXIV 

and  XXXVII). 
III.  Return  home. 
Right: 

I.  The  start  from  home. 
II.  Arrival  at  Grand  Central  station. 


112      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

III.  The  walk  to  the  department  store. 

IV.  Purchases  at  the  store. 
V.   The  return  home. 

Numbers  III,  IV,  and  V  are  no  part  of  II,  though 
the  wrong  plan  makes  them  subdivisions  under 
it. 
Second  right  form: 

I.   The  start  from  home. 
II.  Experiences  in  New  York. 

A.  Arrival  at  Grand  Central  station. 

B.  The  walk  to  the  department  store. 

C.  Purchases  at  the  store. 
III.   The  return  home. 

Note  2:  The  form  of  plan,  given  last  above,  may  seem  to 
disregard  what  was  said  in  IV  (and  also  in  XXXV);  namely, 
that  each  main  heading  in  the  plan  represents  a  thought-block 
in  the  composition.  In  reality,  however,  it  does  not  do  so. 
Division  II  in  this  plan  represents^  not  a  single  thought-block,  but 
a  group  of  thought-blocks;  hence  A,  B,  and  C  represent  so  many 
paragraphs,  just  as  divisions  II,  III,  and  IV  do  in  the  first 
"right"  form  of  the  plan. 

Note  3:  The  student  will  do  well  now  to  begin  to  develop 
his  sense  of  proportion  in  composition  (see  VI).  The  "second 
right  plan"  above  will  impress  on  him  visually  this  principle: 
The  matters  of  greatest  interest  deserve  most  space;  those  of  less 
interest  deserve  less  space.  Clearly  I  and  III  of  the  plan  are  of 
somewhat  less  interest  than  II;  the  main  interest  of  the  narrative 
lies  in  the  latter.  For  this  reason,  II  should  have  more  space 
than  either  I  or  III.  A  glance  at  the  plan  here  stated  would 
show  this:  one  paragraph  is  needed  for  division  I,  and  one  for 
division  III;  but  for  division  II  three  paragraphs  are  needed. 
These  paragraphs  will  of  course  vary  in  length,  yet  we  can 
roughly  estimate  that  division  II  (or  division  II,  III,  and  IV,  in 
the  preceding  plan)  will  require  three-fifths  of  our  space  and  the 
other  two  divisions  two-fifths  of  it. 


PLANNING  THE  COMPOSITION  113 


34-36.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTIONS  XXXIV,  XXXV,  XXXVI 

1.  Examine  all  your  outlines  and  correct  any  false  divisions 
that  you  discover. 

2,  3,  4,  5.   State  additional  topics  and  develop  plans,  or  out- 
lines, for  them. 

6-7.  Study  Section  XXXVI,  notes  2-3  anew,  and  rebuild 
two  of  the  plans  prepared  under  2-5  above,  making  them  show 
the  relative  space  importance  of  the  divisions  (compare  note  1, 
" second  right  form"). 

8-10.  Construct  entirely  new  outlines  on  some  topics  of  your 
own  choosing,  paying  strict  attention  to  indication  of  propor- 
tion. 


XXXVII.  Subdivisions  that  do  not  support  their 
headings.  —  In  every  composition  the  first  requisite 
is  unity.  This  is  to  be  secured  by  making  every 
thought-block  of  the  composition  directly  support 
the  working-thought  in  some  important  part  (see  II 
and  V).  But  there  must  also  be  unity  within  the 
paragraph;  hence  every  subheading  must  as  clearly  sup- 
port its  main  heading  as  this  main  heading  must  sup- 
port the  topic  heading. 

Note  1:  An  excellent  example  of  the  subdivision  that  has 
nothing  to  do  with  its  heading  will  be  found  in  XXXVI,  note  1, 
" Wrong,"  in  which  subdivisions  I  and  A  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  division  under  which  they  are  placed.  Another  exam- 
ple follows  (italicized  parts) :  — 

Subject:  Leading  matters  of  interest  concerning  a  town 
familiar  to  the  writer. 

Topic  thought:  The  leading  matters  of  interest  concerning 
the  town  of are :  — 

Working-thought:  [to  be  stated.] 


114      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

Wrong: 
I.   Its  situation. 

A.  Inland  (or  otherwise). 

B.  Among  the  mountains  (or  on  the  plains). 

C.  Size  and  appearance. 
II.  Its  neighboring  towns. 

A.  . 

B.  -              — . 
C. . 

D.  Excellent  trolley  service. 
III.   Its  industries. 

Etc. 
Right: 
I.   Its  situation. 

A.  Inland;  location  in  state  and  section. 

B.  Among  the  mountains;  natural  scenery. 

C.  On  steam  and  trolley  lines;  ready  communication 

1.   With  cities  near  by. 

,  2.  With  remoter  parts  of  the  country. 

II.   Its  size  and  appearance. 

A.  -     . 

B.   . 


1. 
2. 


III.    Its  industries. 

Etc. 

Note  2:  The  errors  in  unity  in  the  "  Wrong'7  plan  of  note  1 
are  these:  — 

I.   C.  —  The  size  and  appearance  of  the  town  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  its  situation. 

II.  We  are  not  discussing  the  neighboring  towns;  the 
insertion  of  this  heading  in  any  but  a  very  sub- 
ordinate position  is  a  gross  violation  of  the  principle 
of  unity  (it  may  be  inserted  as  it  is  in  the  "right" 
plan,  I.  C.  1,  where  its  thought  appears  in  logical 
connection  with  more  important  ones). 


PLANNING  THE  COMPOSITION  115 

II.   D.  —  The  excellence  of  the  town's  trolley  service  can 
not  logically  be  explained  in  a  paragraph  that  con- 
cerns, not  the  town,  but  the  neighboring  towns. 
But  that  this  is  near  other  important  towns  and  has 
transportation  lines  that  give  easy  communication 
with  these  places  may  be  an  important  fact  about 
its  situation;   if  so,  this  fact  would  be  included  (as 
it  is  in  the  "right"  plan)  under  " Situation." 
Note  3:   In  the  arrangement  of  the  divisions  under  the  "right" 
plan,  one  might  find  it  better  to  put  II  in  place  of  I  and  I  in  place 
of  II.     If  this  change  were  made,  it  would  be  made  in  order  to 
secure   a   more   interesting   and   less   matter-of-fact   beginning 
(see  XXVII,  note  2). 

37.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXXVII. 

1,  2,  3,  4.  Test  various  plans  already  prepared,  such  as  those 
under  sets  34-36,  questions  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8  above.  Does  each 
subheading  support  the  heading  under  which  it  stands?  (Note : 
First  test  all  the  headings  numbered  I,  II,  etc.;  then  all  the 
A,  B,  C  headings  under  I,  then  all  those  under  II,  etc.;  then  all 
the  1,  2,  3  headings  under  A,  then  all  those  under  B,  etc.) 

5.  Plan  a  paper  about  your  own  town,  following  the  general 
plan  suggested  by  the  outline  in  note  1. 

6.  In  a  gazetteer,  encyclopedia,  or  similar  publication,  find 
the  article  that  describes  your  own  town.     Make  an  analytical 
outline  of  the  article.     If  the  article  is  short,  choose  one  that 
describes  a  larger  city  in  your  county  or  state. 

7-9.  Prepare  detailed  outlines  on  topics  assigned  by  the 
instructor  from  exercises,  sets  14-24.  Place  these  outlines  on 
the  black-board,  or  submit  them  to  classmates  for  testing  and 
criticizing. 


III.    TESTING    THE    COMPLETED    COMPOSI- 
TION 

XXXVIII.  Filling  out  the  plan.  —  With  his  com- 
pleted plan  before  him,  the  student  should  stop  to 
consider  what  steps  he  has  taken  toward  completing 
the  composition  itself.  He  has: 

A.  Decided  upon  something  of  interest  for  his  subject. 

B.  Determined  the  one  definite  principal  thought  that  he 

wishes  to  express  about  this  subject  (topic  thought). 

C.  Decided  what  leading  things  he  must  say  in  order  to 

produce  the  result  he  wishes  his  composition  to  pro- 
duce (i.e.,  conceived  fully  the  working-thought  and 
selected  his  working  material 

D.  Decided  what  will  be  the  best  order  in  which  to  say 

these  things,  and  made  out  the  head  divisions  of  his 
plan  accordingly. 

E.  Determined  (finally)  what  things  of  less  importance  he 

must  say  in  order  to  make  clear  each  of  these  headings 
in  its  turn,  and  inserted  these  as  subheadings  under 
the  main  divisions  (provided  for  filling  in  and  ampli- 
fying). 

What  remains  to  do  is,  therefore,  to  write  out  the 
composition  from  the  plan.  This  is  called  filling  out, 
or  amplifying  the  plan.  If  we  think  of  the  latter  as 
a  skeleton  outline,  we  may  say  that  in  filling  it  out 
we  are  merely  giving  body  to  the  skeleton.  A  com- 
pleted composition  has  much  the  same  relation  to 
its  plan  as  the  human  body  has  to  its  skeleton.  The 

116 


TESTING  COMPLETED  COMPOSITION        117 

skeleton  of  bones  is  a  framework  without  which 
the  graceful,  beautiful  body  could  not  exist,  and  the 
skeleton  outline  of  a  composition  represents  a  frame- 
work of  thought  without  which  the  graceful,  beautiful 
composition  could  not  exist;  and  just  as  the  well-built 
human  body  is  admirable  and  beautiful,  so  is  the  well- 
built  composition  admirable  and  beautiful.  With  this 
realization  in  mind,  let  the  writer  now  turn  his  plan 
into  a  composition  by  filling  out,  as  attractively  and 
as  effectively  as  he  can,  the  skeleton  of  his  thought. 

38.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXXVIII 

1.  Closely  examine  together  the  Macaulay  paragraphs  and 
the  outlines  of  them  that  you  prepared  in  set  6,  questions  1-2. 
Observe  especially  how  the  paragraphs  fill  out,  or  amplify,  the 
plan,  and  give  body  to  the  thought.     Do  the  same  with  the  Lamb 
paragraphs  in  set  6,  questions  3-4. 

2.  Amplify  (fill  out)  two  of  the  plans  prepared  in  accordance 
with  set  33,  1-4. 

3.  Do  the  same  with  two  of  the  plans  called  for  by  set  33, 
questions  5-6. 

4.  Do  the  same  with  two  of  the  plans  called  for  by  set  33, 
questions  7-9. 

5.  Test  two  of  these  completed  themes  according  to  set  2, 
question  2. 

6.  Same  as  in  question  5. 

7.  Same,  testing  according  to  set  2,  question  4. 

8.  Same:  according  to  set  27,  question  6. 

9.  Same:  according  to  set  27,  question  1. 
10.   Same:  according  to  set  27,  question  3. 

11-14.  Amplify  several  of  the  outlines  prepared  under  set 
34-36,  questions  2-5. 

15.  Amplify  the  outline  prepared  in  accordance  with  set  33, 
question  15. 


118      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN   COMPOSITION 

XXXIX.  Testing  the  composition  for  unity.  —  If 
there  be  unity  in  the  plan,  there  should  be  unity  in 
the  completed  composition.  But  nevertheless  unity  is 
not  always  present.  Therefore  the  composition  must 
itself  be  tested  for  this  indispensable  quality.  Unity  may 
be  lacking  (a)  because  the  plan  itself  was  not  really 
unified,  or  (&)  because  the  writer  did  not  follow  his 
plan,  or  (c)  because  through  unskilful  use  of  language 
he  failed  to  show  that  he  had  a  well-considered  plan. 

Note  1:  In  a  composition  that  has  been  outlined  in  advance 
and  yet  seems  to  lack  unity,  the  fault  is  likely  to  lie  in  the  un- 
skilful use  of  language.  First,  therefore,  such  a  composition 
should  be  tested  for  directness  and  clearness  of  expression. 
Taking  each  thought-block  (paragraph  or  sentence-group)  by 
itself,  make  sure  that  it  puts  forth  fully,  clearly,  and  precisely 
THAT  PART  of  the  main  thought  which  it  is  intended  to  develop. 
Make  sure,  too,  that  it  is  so  worded  that  the  reader  cannot  fail  to 
see  with  what  part  of  the  working-thought  it  is  concerned  (see  V 
and  note). 

Example:  Working-thought  (uncompleted):  The  interest  of 
football  lies  in  three  things,  namely :  — 

I.   The  fact  that  it  is  a  stirring  physical  encounter. 

Poor  (we  are  not  led  to  see  what  the  assertions  in  the  completed 
paper  have  to  do  with  this  heading):  In  the  early  days  men 
liked  to  fight.  Much  of  their  enjoyment  lay  in  hard  and  even 
brutal  encounters.  They  would  wound  and  even  kill  one 
another,  or  have  others  do  so,  for  the  sake  of  sport.  So  we  all 
like  football. 

Right  (we  are  made  to  see  clearly  how  the  facts  advanced 
bear  on  this  one  part  of  the  topic  thought):  Football  interests 
nearly  everyone,  and  it  does  so  first  of  all  because  it  is  stirring 
physical  encounter.  We  like  to  see  men  come  together  in  a 
hard  bodily  contest;  and  we  have  always  liked  it.  In  primitive 


TESTING  COMPLETED  COMPOSITION        119 

times,  men  fought  hotly  and  brutally  for  the  love  of  fighting,  and 
their  fellows  gathered  round  to  watch  them  for  the  same  reason. 
The  jousts  of  chivalry  owed  much  of  their  popularity  to  this 
one  thing;  the  same  thing  gives  interest  to  bull  fights  and  — 
shall  we  say  it?  —  to  dog  fights.  The  same  pleasure  in  rude 
physical  encounter  keeps  boxing  and  prize  fighting  alive.  We 
cannot  help  being  stirred  when  we  see  resolute  men  meeting  one 
another  grimly  and  forcibly  in  personal  contest;  it  heats  our 
own  fighting  blood;  it  arouses  in  us  the  love  of  physical  en- 
counter. For  this  reason,  football  excites  us.  It  is  the  one 
form  of  sport  that  enables  us  unblushingly  to  indulge  our  love 
of  physical  combat. 

Note  2:  If  the  thought-blocks,  as  individual  wholes,  prove  to 
have  each  a  clear  relation  to  the  working-thought,  there  may 
yet  be,  within  one  or  more  of  them,  material  that  reveals  no 
essential  connection  with  the  central  thought  of  the  individual 
paragraph.  Should  this  be  the  case,  recast  the  vague  or  obscure 
part  until  it  shows  clearly  what  it  means  and  how  it  bears  on  the 
paragraph  topic.  The  example  under  note  1  will  serve  to 
illustrate  the  fault  here  mentioned. 

Note  3:  If  the  composition  still  seem  to  lack  unity,  it  prob- 
ably does  not  adhere  to  its  plan.  This  departure  will  usually 
be  discovered  in  the  course  of  the  examination  directed  under 
note  1.  The  remedy  is,  to  rewrite  the  composition  so  that  it  shall 
closely  follow  the  outline. 

Note  4:  If  even  yet  unity  be  lacking,  the  fault  is  in  the  plan 
itself.  If  this  be  the  case,  the  working-thought  must  be  analyzed 
anew  until  all  errors  in  arrangement,  in  the  admission  or  rejec- 
tion of  thought-blocks,  or  in  other  of  the  logical  or  thought 
processes,  be  corrected,  and  the  plan  revised  accordingly. 

39.   EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XXXIX. 

1-5.  Carefully  examine  five  of  the  completed  papers  called 
for  under  set  38,  testing  each  of  the  thought-blocks  in  each 
paper  to  see  if  it  follow  the  plan.  Write  a  theme  stating  what 
you  discover. 


120      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

6-10.  Same:  Test  the  language  to  see  if  it  adequately  and 
clearly  conveys  the  thought  that  was  intended.  Write  a  para- 
graph stating  the  result  of  your  examination. 

11-15.  Same:  Test  the  contents  of  the  individual  paragraphs 
for  unity.  Write  a  paper  stating  the  result  .of  your  exami- 
nation. 

16.  Carefully  test  the  plan  and  completed  theme  of  a  class- 
mate for  unity.  Go  over  his  work  with  him,  pointing  out  such 
violations  of  unity  as  you  detect,  and  the  means  of  improving 
the  paper. 

17-18.  The  same  as  (16). 

XL.   Testing  for  unity;   the  lost  point  of  view. — 

Young  writers  frequently  lose  the  point  of  view, 
sometimes  in  making  the  plan  and  sometimes  in  ampli- 
fying the  plan  into  the  composition.  There  can  be  no 
unity  unless  the  point  of  view  be  maintained. 

Note  1 :  The  point  of  view  is  the  position  the  writer  takes  from 
which  to  regard  his  subject.  It  may  be  either  physical  or  mental. 
In  a  composition  descriptive  of  "The  town  seen  from  the  north 
windows  of  the  University  library, "  the  point  of  view  is  physical 
(observe  how  carefully  precise  the  statement  of  it  is  made). 
A  mental  point  of  view  is  indicated  by  each  of  the  following 
phrases  (subjects):  "Unwholesome  conditions  in  sweatshops," 
"A  ludicrous  performance  by  the  school  board."  The  wording 
of  these  phrases  indicates  the  mood  of  the  writer,  or  the  attitude 
of  mind  he  will  show  in  discussing  his  subject.  In  writing  about 
the  sweatshops,  he  will  all  the  time  regard  them  as  unwholesome, 
thus  assuming  an  attitude  of  condemnation;  and  in  writing 
about  the  school  board,  he  will  regard  the  board  as  guilty  of 
some  ludicrous  action,  maintaining  toward  it,  therefore,  the 
mood  of  ridicule  or  derision.  That  is,  the  object  has  made  a 
definite  impression  on  him,  and  this  impression  he  now  tries  to 
produce  in  turn  on  the  reader. 


TESTING  COMPLETED  COMPOSITION        121 

These  assertions  being  so,  it  is  plain  that,  in  the  description 
of  the  town,  the  writer  must  write  of  nothing  that  cannot  be 
seen  from  the  north  windows  of  the  library;  in  the  sweatshop 
paper,  he  must  confine  himself  to  matters  that  are  naturally 
associated  with  the  unwholesomeness  of  the  sweatshops  and  that, 
therefore,  connect  themselves  readily  with  a  condemnation  of 
these  places;  and  in  the  school-board  paper,  he  must  take  care 
to  say  nothing  that  will  not  agree  with  the  mood  of  satire  and 
derision.  In  keeping  the  position  or  the  mood  with  which  he 
began,  the  writer  is  maintaining  the  point  of  view  and  preserving 
unity. 

Note  2:  A  common  reason  for  lack  of  unity  is  the  attempt  to 
combine  a  general  account  of  a  thing  with  some  particular 
account  of  it  —  to  do  which  requires  much  skill,  because  it  re- 
quires that  two  points  of  view  be  maintained.  For  example, 
to  write  in  one  composition  about  "Boat  trips  to  Province- 
town,"  and  "The  boat  trip  I  made  to  Provincetown, "  is  to  get 
into  confusion  immediately  through  attempting  to  present  the 
subject  as  seen  from  two  points  of  view  at  once.  In  the  para- 
graph that  follows,  the  italicized  part  has  to  do  with  "The  trip 
that  I  made,"  the  rest  has  to  do  with  "Trips  that  people  (in 
general)  make." 

Poor  (two  points  of  view) : 

Every  day  through  the  summer  a  steamer  makes  the  round 
trip  from  Boston  to  Provincetown.  /  found  myself  at  the 
wharf  one  Saturday  morning  with  three  dollars  in  my  pocket  and 
nothing  to  do,  and  I  boarded  the  vessel.  The  fare  is  $1.00  for 
the  round  trip,  and  the  time  each  way  about  four  hours,  with  a 
two-hour  stop  in  Provincetown.  Very  unwisely  (as  it  turned  out) 
I  took  a  chair  forward,  under  the  edge  of  the  upper  deck.  As  the 
boat  works  down  the  thirteen  miles  of  channel  before  Minot's 
Light  is  passed  and  the  open  water  of  the  bay  is  reached,  the  pas- 
sengers have  an  opportunity  to  see  some  very  interesting  things. 
/  was  sitting,  etc. 

Better  (for  personal  narrative):  I  found  myself  one  Saturday 
morning  on  the  Boston  waterfront,  with  three  dollars  in  my 


122      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

pocket  and  the  day  before  me.  A  trim,  slim  steamer  was  lying 
at  the  wharf,  above  which  hung  the  sign,  "  Steamer  for 
Provincetown. " 

11  What's  the  round-trip  fare?"  I  asked. 

"One  dollar." 

"How  long  does  it  take?" 

"Leave  here  at  ten,  get  back  about  seven." 

Provided  with  a  ticket,  I  hunted  out  a  place  well  forward. 
...  As  the  boat  worked  through  the  thirteen  miles  of  channel. 
...  I  found  myself  deeply  interested  in  what  we  passed. 
First,  etc. 

Better  (for  account  of  the  trips  in  general) :  Exclude  all  refer- 
ence to  personal  experiences;  tell  only  what  are  the  customary 
sights  and  incidents  of  the  trip.  The  omission  of  the  italicized 
parts  in  the  "Poor"  example  will  turn  that  paragraph  into  one 
of  this  impersonal  type. 

Note  3:  If,  keeping  strictly  in  mind  the  point  of  view  he  has 
assumed,  a  writer  perceives  that  it  is  quite  possible  and  natural 
for  him  to  be  in  possession  of  the  necessary  injormation  about  the 
facts  that  he  wishes  to  report,  he  may  then  embody  a  statement 
of  these  facts  in  his  composition.  If,  however,  he  perceives 
that  —  still  keeping  his  point  of  view  —  it  is  either  (i)  impossible 
or  (ii)  unnatural  for  him  to  be  in  possession  of  this  information, 
he  must  not  try  to  report  the  facts.1 

Note  4:  In  descriptions  of  physical  objects,  one  may  not  men- 
tion  anything  that  would  not  be  visible  from  his  chosen  standing- 
point.  For  instance,  in  describing  the  New  York  customs  house 
as  seen  from  the  front,  such  information  as  this  is  not  admissible 
(one  cannot  see  the  rear  from  the  front) : 

1  The  rule  is  here  stated  absolutely.  The  skilled  writer  will  be 
able  to  make  the  necessary  exceptions.  There  will  be  cases  in  which 
the  author  does,  through  some  chance,  possess  the  necessary  infor- 
mation. To  use  it  convincingly,  however,  he  will  almost  always  find 
himself  compelled  to  tell  how  he  came  by  it;  see  note  7.  This  is 
likely  to  clog  his  story  and  lessen  its  interest  through  the  introduction 
of  details  but  remotely  connected  with  his  topic. 


TESTING  COMPLETED  COMPOSITION        123 

"The  rear  of  the  building  shows  little  ornamentation.  It 
rises  above  a  narrow  street,  across  which  one  of  the  earlier 
type  of  'sky-scrapers'  rears  itself,  a  barrier  to  the  view." 

If  one  wish  to  describe  more  than  one  side  of  a  building, 
he  must  in  his  plan  provide  for  a  succession  of  viewpoints  — 
front,  sides,  back,  etc.  But  even  then  he  must,  so  long  as  he 
is  using  any  one  of  these  viewpoints,  be  exceedingly  careful 
how  he  mentions  anything  except  what  is  visible  from  that  one 
position. 

Note  5:  We  can  now  see  why  false  beginnings  (XXVII  and 
note  2)  and  false  endings  (XXVIII  and  notes)  interfere  with 
unity;  they  introduce  matter  that  does  not  constitute  an  essential 
part  of  the  topic  thought  and  is  therefore  not  necessarily  within 
the  writer's  knowledge.  For  this  reason,  too,  digressions  destroy 
unity.  One  usually  digresses  because  interesting,  yet  irrelevant, 
thoughts  are  suggested  to  him  by  what  he  is  writing;  and  he  lets 
himself  be  drawn  into  writing  about  these  instead  of  keeping  on 
with  the  development  of  his  central,  or  topic,  thought. 

Example: 

Topic  thought:   My  hardest  study  is  history. 
Working-thought:   [to  be  stated.] 

Poor:  My  hardest  study  is  history.  I  try  and  "try,  try 
again"  to  master  it,  but  I  cannot.  In  fact,  I  cannot  find  any 
interest  in  it.  Chemistry  is  always  interesting.  I  can  put  things 
together  in  chemistry  and  something  happens,  so  that  there  is  always 
interest.  Once  —  when  I  was  just  beginning  chemistry  —  /  put 
saltpeter  and  sulphur  together  in  a  big  mortar  and  pounded  them. 
There  was  a  panic  in  the  laboratory,  and  I  had  to  pay  twenty-five 
dollars  for  damage.  I  like  experimenting  even  when  I  get  blown 
up.  Hence  I  think  that  chemistry  is  far  more  interesting  than 
history. 

This  paragraph  is  not  uninteresting,  but  it  lacks  unity.  After 
the  third  sentence,  it  ceases  to  develop  its  topic,  and  digresses. 
All  the  italicized  part  is  digression.  The  writer,  having  chanced 
to  mention  chemistry,  is  led  quite  away  from  his  topic  thought. 


124      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

As  a  result,  he  states  in  the  closing  sentence  a  topic  thought 
wholly  different  from  the  topic  with  which  he  began.  (With  a 
working-thought,  would  digression  have  been  likely?) 

Note  6:  In  narrative,  regard  to  viewpoint  forbids  the  reporting 
of  what  the  narrator  has  no  manifest  means  of  knowing,  as  is  the 
case  in  the  example  that  follows  (italicized  part) : 

Wrong: 

Round  the  point  half  a  mile  away,  Jo  saw  Harry  and  Kate 
emerge  on  their  ponies.  They  were  talking  excitedly. 

11  You  know  it's  so,  Harry, }}  Kate  was  saying. 

In  this,  it  appears  that  Jo,  although  half  a  mile  distant, 
could  not  only  see  that  Harry  and  Kate  were  talking  excitedly, 
but  even  could  tell  what  they  were  saying.  This  would  be 
impossible;  but  a  proper  management  of  viewpoint  would 
enable  the  writer  to  report  these  facts  without  absurdity. 

Right: 

Round  the  point  half  a  mile  away,  Jo  saw  Harry  and  Kate 
emerge  on  their  ponies.  Had  he  possessed  a  field-glass,  he  would 
have  seen  that  they  were  talking  excitedly.  They  were  in  fact 
speaking  about  him.  [Observe  how  the  shift  is  made.  —  Whose 
is  the  viewpoint  in  this  paragraph?] 

"  You  know  it's  so,  Harry,"  Kate  was  saying. 

But  poor  Jo  could  barely  see  who  the  riders  were,  and  could  not 
guess  the  conversation  that  might  have  meant  so  much  to  him.  He 
turned  away  impatiently,  etc. 

Note  7:  In  the  example  above,  the  story  is  told  by  a  third 
person,  one  who  has  what  is  called  the  omniscient,  or  know-all, 
viewpoint  —  one  who  is  frankly  assumed  to  know  everything  that 
belongs  to  the  story.  If,  however,  the  narrator  should  himself 
be  one  of  the  characters,  he  cannot  be  assumed  to  know  anything 
except  what  he  sees,  hears,  or  does  himself.  Accordingly,  if  he 
needs  to  report  anything  further  than  this,  he  must  make  clear 
how  he  comes  to  know  it.  Suppose,  for  illustration,  that  Jo 
is  telling  the  story.  He  must  use  some  device  to  indicate  how 
he  has  come  to  know  about  the  conversation. 


TESTING  COMPLETED  COMPOSITION         125 

Right:  Round  the  point  half  a  mile  away,  so  far  I  could 
barely  tell  who  they  were,  I  saw  Harry  and  Kate  emerge  on 
their  ponies.  //  only  I  had  known  then  what  I  did  not  learn 
until  wrongs  had  been  done  that  could  never  be  repaired  and 
friendships  broken  that  could  never  be  restored  —  not  until  my 
mother,  who  had  heard  the  story  from  Kate,  explained  it  all  to 
me,  months  later!  But  how  was  I  to  know  that  they  were  talking 
excitedly  .about  me?  Had  I  known  it,  Kate  was  that  moment  say- 
ing, "  You  know  it's  so,  Harry." 

40.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XL 

1.  Write  from  memory  a  description  of  the  college  or  school 
building   as   it   appears   from  the  front.     Make  this   descrip- 
tion matter-of-fact.     Take  pains  to  state  the  working-thought 
well.1 

2.  Write  from  memory  a  similar  description  of  the  building 
as  it  appears  from  one  side. 

3.  Study  the  building,  and  revise  your  descriptions. 

4.  Taking  some  actual  object  indicated  below,  write  a  de- 
scription that  shall  give  an  impression,  not  a  view  (such  a  de- 
scription should  be  made  more  suggestive,  and  less  matter-of-fact). 
Construct  the  working-thought  sentence  carefully.2 

a.  A   church    (e.g.,   is   it   old?   lonely?   stately?   ruinous? 

grim?  oppressive?  solemn?) 

b.  A  bridge. 

c.  An  island,  or  some  spot  on  the  banks  of  a  stream  near 

your  home. 

d.  A  person. 

e.  An  animal. 

1  The  predicate  of  the  sentence  should  indicate  the  leading  out- 
lines of  the  building  as  they  show  to  the  eye. 

2  The  predicate  of  the  sentence  should  indicate  the  impression 
clearly.     It  will  be  the  better  if  it  also  enumerates  the  chief  elements 
that  enter  into  this  impression,  such  as  the  ivy,  the  color  of  the  stone, 
etc. 


126      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

5.  Indicate  a  physical  point  of  view  for  a  description  of  each 
of  these  objects  (select  the  point  of  view  after  trying  several). 

a.  The  city  hall. 

b.  Your  house  and  grounds. 

c.  The  village  green,  or  the  public  square. 

d.  The  town  (an  inclusive  view). 

e.  The  town  residence  street. 
/.    A  drove  of  cattle. 

6.  Indicate  a  mental  point  of  view  for  descriptions  of  the  same 
objects. 

7.  Which  of  the  following  subjects  indicate  a  physical  and 
which  indicate  a  mental  point  of  view?     If  any  of  them  permit 
both  points  of  view,  restate  them  to  indicate  each  separately. 

a.  The  west  side  of  Main  street. 

b.  The  Sorrows  of  Werther  (Gothe). 

c.  The  Outcast  (Cowper). 

d.  The  tariff  is  unjust.1 

e.  The  city  of  Balbec. 
/.  Japanese  statesmen. 
g.  Morning-glories. 

h.  The  building  of  our  camp. 

1.  The  value  of  habit. 
j.    Butter-making. 

k.  Uncle  Ned's  old  spring  wagon. 

2.  The  representative  in  Congress  from  our  district, 
ra.  The  school  house  heating  equipment. 

n.  Poultry  raising. 
o.    My  experience  with  hens. 

8-9.  Is  it  likely  that  any  of  these  subjects  would  call  for  a 
combination  of  the  two  points  of  view?  Which  ones?  Write  a 
paper  about  one  of  the  subjects  that  call  for  this  combination. 
10.  Write  a  paper  comparing  two  buildings  that  you  know, 
which  are  a  good  deal  alike.  Pay  especial  attention  to  the 
management  of  viewpoint. 

»  Must  the  question  be  decided  by  physical  fact  or  by  mental 
operation,  i.e.,  by  a  course  of  reasoning? 


TESTING  COMPLETED  COMPOSITION         127 

11.  Perhaps  you  know  some  person  who  behaves  differently 
in  some  circumstances  from  the  way  in  which  he  behaves  in 
others;   for  instance,  at  home  and  away  from  home.     Write  a 
description  of  his  behavior.     (Be  careful,  of  course,  not  to  use 
his  true  name,  and  not  to  write  about  anyone  whom  your  paper 
can  offend  or  hurt.) 

12.  Tell  about  a  pleasure  trip  that  you  took.      (See  next 
question  for  other  directions.) 

13.  Tell  about  some  series  of  excursions,  or  pleasure-trips, 
open  to  the  public;   for  example,  trolley  trips  to  a  park  outside 
of  town.     (Mention  only  the  more  interesting  facts.     Keep  the 
connection   clear.     Test   your    paper   for   false   beginning   and 
ending  and  for  digression.) 

14-19.  Write  a  paper  in  which  the  point  of  view  shall  be 
that  of  (a)  an  angry  man;  (6)  a  silly  woman;  (c)  a  servant  who 
has  broken  a  dish;  (d)  the  mistress  whose  dish  has  been  broken; 
(e)  a  chauffeur  who  has  been  arrested;  (/)  the  policemen  who 
arrested  him;  (g)  a  workman  on  a  strike;  (h)  the  employer 
against  whom  the  workman  is  striking;  (i)  a  hunter  driven  off 
a  farmer's  land;  (j)  the  farmer  on  whose  land  the  hunter  was 
trespassing. 

20.  Write  a  paper  in  the  first  person,  telling  of  something 
that  affected  you  but  occurred  outside  of  your  own  range  of 
observation;  for  example,  what  Jack  and  Harry  did  that  caused 
your  father  to  keep  you  from  attending  a  baseball  game. 

XLI.   Using  a  large  topic  for  a  little  composition.  — 

We  have  already  seen  that  even  limited  subjects  must 
be  limited  further  by  means  of  topic-statements,  and 
these  topics  restated  as  working-thoughts,  before  they 
can  be  discussed  with  definiteness  and  effect.  We  must 
remember  further  that  many  subjects  and  topics  are  en- 
tirely too  "  large  "  to  permit  effective  treatment;  that  is, 
they  include  too  much  and  call  for  too  extended  treat- 
ment to  be  well  handled  in  a  short  composition. 


128      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

Note:  "The  History  of  the  Tariff"  cannot  be  compressed 
into  five  hundred  words;  but  that  "  a  noted  manufacturer  wrote 
the  steel  schedule  finally  incorporated  in  the  Wilson  tariff 
law  "  is  so  concrete  and  limited  a  fact  that  it  can  readily  be 
presented  in  a  short  paragraph.  To  treat  overlarge  topics  in 
little  space  is  destructive  of  unity  (of  impression),  because  such 
topics  are  composed  of  so  large  and  so  important  divisions 
(thought-blocks)  that  these  cannot  possibly  be  clearly  developed 
in  the  short  paper.  At  best  they  can  only  be  enumerated;  and 
with  bare  enumeration  the  connectedness  of  the  thought  (V)  cannot 
be  shown.  Hence,  in  such  compositions  there  seems  to  be  no 
central  or  nucleus  thought  to  give  unity. 

41.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XLI 

1.  Using  two  of  these  subjects,  state  working-thoughts  as 
directed  below:  Money,  Straw-rides,  Liberty,  Athletics,  Local 
option,  The  condition  of  the  farmer,  Good  roads  in  our  town, 
Easter  styles,   Spring  flowers,   The  situation  in  Russia,   Milk 
cows,  Garden  crops,  Little  industries. 

a.  Three  working-thoughts,  each  of  which  can  be  developed 

in  one  page. 

b.  Three  working-thoughts,  each  of  which  will  require  two 

pages  for  development. 

c.  Three  working-thoughts,  each  of  which  will  require  five 

pages  for  development. 

2.  Write  a  one-page  paper  upon  this  topic  thought :  "Industry 
is  beneficial." 

3.  Study  your  paper.      Is  it   convincing?     Is   it   concrete? 
Are  its  assertions  too  general?     Do  the  sentences  seem  closely 
connected?     Write  a  theme  discussing  it  with  reference  to  these 
questions. 

4.  Write   a   one-page   paper    on    this   topic   thought:     "In 
one  case,  industry  proved  of  direct  benefit  to  me."     Compare 
this  paper  with  the  other.     Which  is  the  more  definite?  the 
more  interesting?    the  more  impressive?   the   more  coherent? 


TESTING  COMPLETED  COMPOSITION        129 

Which  seems  to  be  the  more  original?  the  more  individual  in 
style? 

5.  Write  a  paper  presenting  the  conclusions  that  you  come  to 
from  doing  exercises  2,  3,  and  4  above. 

XLII.   Testing  the  composition  for  coherence. —  In 

V  we  saw  that  the  thought  must  have  coherence,  or 
connectedness,  throughout.  But  it  is  not  enough  that 
the  thought  shall  be  coherent  in  the  mind  of  the  writer. 
The  connectedness  must  be  made  to  show  forth  clearly  to 
the  reader,  and  it  must  do  so  as  much  in  the  composi- 
tion as  in  the  plan  (XXXIII,  with  notes  2,  3,  4). 

Note:  Really,  coherence  is  involved  in  unity;  if  one's  thought 
be  unified,  it  must  be  connected.  But  the  expression  of  the  thought 
does  not  always  show  forth  this  unity  (XXXIX,  notes  1-2),  and 
we  therefore  use  the  term  coherence  when  we  are  dealing  with 
the  expression  given  to  the  thought.  Some  rhetorics  speak  of 
unity  of  impression,  unity  of  material,  and  unity  of  expression. 
By  the  first,  they  mean  the  single,  clear  impression  that  a  composi- 
tion ought  to  leave  in  the  mind  of  the  reader.  By  the  second, 
they  mean  the  general  agreement  of  the  materials  selected  by  the 
writer,  so  that  all  the  substance  of  the  composition  directly  helps  to 
produce  the  desired  impression.  By  the  third,  they  mean  what 
we  here  call  coherence  —  a  oneness  in  the  language  such  as  makes 
quite  apparent  the  oneness  of  the  thought.  As  all  writing  aims  at 
unity  of  impression,  and  as  a  lack  of  unity  in  the  substance 
nearly  always  produces  incoherence,  it  is  always  well,  in  seeking 
the  cause  of  incoherence  in  a  composition,  also  to  test  the  composition 
for  unity. 

42.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XLII 

1-18.  See  set  39.  Proceed  as  there  directed,  testing  for 
coherence  (unity  of  expression),  however,  instead  of  unity  of 
impression  and  of  material. 

19.  Study  three  editorial  articles  from  an  important  paper. 
To  what  do  they  owe  their  coherence? 


130      THOUGHT-BUILDING   IN   COMPOSITION 

XLIII.  Coherence;  putting  the  thought-blocks  in 
a  logical  order.  —  All  the  material  in  a  composition 
may  belong  there,  yet  it  may  be  arranged  so  poorly 
that  the  thought  will  appear  incoherent.  What  the 
order  shall  be,  each  writer  must  determine  for  him- 
self; but  it  must  group  together  what  is  related,  and 
must  separate  what  is  distinct.  Above  all,  the  order 
must  be  clear,  must  be  natural,  and  must  be  emphatic 
(compare  XXV;  XXVII,  note  2;  XXVIII).  The 
order  of  thought  in  the  composition,  of  course,  depends 
on  the  order  it  has  in  the  plan;  the  composition  follows 
the  order  of  the  plan. 

Note  1:  The  most  obvious  order  in  which  to  arrange  the 
thought-blocks  and  their  subdivisions  is  called  the  chronological, 
or  time,  order.  This  is  useful  when  action  is  to  be  recounted, 
that  is,  in  narration.  For  example:  In  telling  of  a  fight  one 
would  begin  with  the  quarrel,  tell  then  of  the  first  blow,  of  the 
succeeding  blows,  of  the  knocking  down  of  one  fighter,  and 
finally  of  the  arrival  of  the  police. 

Note  2:  In  description,  the  writer  seeks  some  easily  perceived 
order.  For  example:  Using  an  important  part  of  the  subject  as 
a  middle  point  with  which  to  begin,  one  describes  first  what  is  on 
one  side  of  this  middle  point,  then  what  is  on  the  other  side; 
or  he  begins  with  the  nearest  part  of  a  scene  and  passes  from  this  to 
what  is  more  and  more  distant;  or  he  begins  with  the  distant  and 
comes  nearer;  or  (finally)  he  finds  some  other  natural  arrange- 
ment  that  already  exists  in  the  object  itself,  and  uses  this. 

Example  of  the  last-named  method:  Looking  at  the  ground- 
sketch  of  our  new  high-school  building,  one  sees  a  great  letter  H. 
(The  plan  would  have  at  least  two  main  divisions,  one  for  each 
upright;  and  perhaps  a  third,  for  the  cross-bar  of  the  letter.) 

Example  2  (having  to  do  with  an  immaterial  object):  His 
character  was  so  plainly  revealed  in  his  face  that  merely  to  look 


TESTING  COMPLETED  COMPOSITION        131 

at  him  was  like  eating  crab-apples  dressed  with  vinegar  and 
pepper;  a  more  crabbed,  biting  and  fiery  old  man  did  not  exist 
in  all  the  Berkshires.  (The  three  parts  of  the  plan  would  concern 
the  old  man's  crabbedness,  his  biting  sharpness,  and  his  fiery 
disposition.) 

Note  3:  In  exposition,  or  explanatory  composition,  it  is  best, 
after  stating  the  topic  (see  XXVII,  note  3)  to  begin  with  mention 
of  some  relevant  fact  that  is  well  known.  This  may  serve  merely 
as  a  starting-fact,  or  it  may  be  employed  by  way  of  illustration 
throughout  the  composition. 

Example:  The  steam  engine  is  nothing  but  a  pump  reversed. 
In  the  water  pump,  the  pump  moves  the  water;  but  in  the 
steam  engine,  the  steam  moves  the  engine.  In  truth,  however, 
the  principle  involved  is  much  the  same. 

In  building  up  a  composition  on  this  working-thought,  the 
obvious  process  would  be,  to  explain  the  parts  of  the  pump, 
and  then  their  operation,  one  by  one;  and  then  to  show  step  by 
step  how  the  essential  parts  and  workings  of  the  engine  corre- 
spond to  those  of  the  pump.  But  whatever  the  order  of  arrange- 
ment of  the  thought-blocks,  the  purpose  will  be,  to  secure  the 
greatest  possible  clearness  and  progress  in  the  thought. 

Note  4:  In  argument,  it  is  better  to  begin  with  what  everyone 
knows  and  believes,  gradually  moving  forward  to  the  portion 
that  one  wishes  to  make-others  understand  or  accept  (see  XXVII, 
note  4). 

43.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XLIII 

1.  Tell  how  a  line  of  telephone  wires  is  raised.    Use  the 
chronological  order;    begin  with  the  time  when  the  poles  are 
being  distributed  along  the  proposed  line. 

2.  Tell  how  a  cow  lies  down;  how  she  gets  up. 

3.  Explain  the  process  of  reloading  a  shot-gun  shell. 

4.  Tell  in  proper  order  the  things  that  are  done  in  getting 
breakfast. 

5.  Explain  how  to  make  a  "sleeve"  apron. 


132      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

6.  Select  for  description  a  building  with  a  main  middle  part 
and  two  wings,  or  annexes.     Describe  it. 

7.  Select   a  scene   for   description.     Describe   it,   beginning 
with  the  part  near  at  hand. 

8.  Describe  the  same  scene,  beginning  with  what  is  most 
remote. 

9.  (Based  on  note  2.)     Try  to  discover  the  natural  outline, 
arrangement,  or  plan  of,:  — 

a.  Several  buildings;  examine  especially  Catholic  and 
Episcopal  churches,  new-style  apartment  houses,  and 
public  buildings. 

6.  A  public  square,  plaza,  or  concourse,  or  a  ward  or  dis- 
trict of  the  city. 

c.  Well-known  parks,  gardens,  fields,  or  woodlots  in  the 
neighborhood. 

10.  (Based  on  note  2.)     Try  to  discover  the  natural  outline 
to  follow  in  describing  the  character  or  disposition  of:  — 

a.  Some    workman    you    know  —  motorman,    conductor, 

cabman,  hostler,  carpenter,  etc. 

b.  A  young  man  whom  you  observe  on  the  streets  or  hang- 

ing about  billiard  rooms,  saloons,  etc. 

c.  An  animal  —  a  livery-stable  horse,  a  dog,  the  family 

cow,  etc. 

d.  A  man  for  whom  you  once  worked. 

e.  An  office  boy  whom  you  know. 

11-13.   Make  plans  for  descriptions  to  be  based  on  outlines 
discovered  in  working  on  questions  9  and  10. 

14.  Write  a  paper  explaining  the  working  of  the  motor  in  a 
street   car,   or   of   a   dynamo.     Keep   the   explanation   simple. 
See  note  3,  Section  XLIII. 

15.  Explain  the  structure  of  a  boy's  express  wagon. 

16.  Explain  the  structure  of  the  boiler  used  to   generate 
steam  for  the  heating  of  a  house. 

17.  Explain  how  the  bell  of  the  schoolhouse  (or  a  church)  is 
rung. 

18.  Explain  the  working  of  a  pipe-organ. 


TESTING  COMPLETED  COMPOSITION        133 

19.  Explain  the  ringing  of  a  set  of  chimes. 

20.  Other  subjects  for  explanation  or  description: 

a.  Air  brakes  on  railway  cars. 

b.  Fireless  cookers. 

c.  Gas  ranges. 

d.  Gas  engines. 

e.  Spinning  tops. 
/.  A  film  camera. 

g.   Typesetting  (by  hand). 

h.  A  pair  of  roller  skates. 

i.    A  pair  of  snowshoes. 

j.    How  to  use  snowshoes  (or  ski). 

fc.   How  to  waltz;  how  to  two-step. 

I.    How  to  plait  the  hair. 

m.  How  to  make  accordion  plaiting. 

n.  How  to  wipe  a  dish. 

o.   How  to  make  coffee. 

p.  The  way  to  board  and  to  leave  a  streetcar. 

q.   How  to  tell  a  sugar  maple  from  a  soft  maple. 

r.    How  oats  differ  from  wheat. 

s.    How  to  tell  a  Jersey  cow  from  a  Holstein. 

t.    How  to  tell  all-wool  goods. 

u.  A  typewriting  machine. 

v.    How  to  tell  Dent  from  Flint  corn,  etc. 

w.  A  student  lamp. 

x.   A  gas  (or  electric)  iron. 

y.   Making  buttonholes. 

z.    Cutting  out  an  apron  (or  dress). 

21.  Additional  subjects  of  the  same  sort: 

a.  How  to  prepare  a  Latin  lesson  (or  German,  etc.). 

6.  How  to  read  and  take  notes  for  an  essay. 

c.  How  to  paddle  a  canoe. 

d.  How  to  scull. 

e.  How  to  kick  a  football. 

/.    How  mail  goes  through  the  local  post  office. 
g.   A  telephone  exchange. 


134      THO.UGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

h.   A  pump. 

i.    Sending  in  a  fire  alarm. 

j.    The  block  signals  on  the  nearest  railway. 

k.   Making  up  a  freight  train  in  the  yards. 

I.    How  to  plant  potatoes. 

m.  How  to  cure  hay. 

n.  Taking  a  photograph. 

0.  How  to  make  a  hotbed. 
p.  Pruning  berrybushes. 

q.   How  to  fight  the  currantworm. 

r.    How  to  lay  off  a  land  for  plowing. 

22.  Subjects  involving  definition  and  discrimination  of  terms 
(the  student  is  to  explain  what  the  term  means,  including  the  way 
in  which  the  thing  it  names  is  different  from  others  that  closely 
resemble  it,  or  with  which  it  stands  in  contrast.1)  See  Sec- 
tions XIX-XXI. 

a.   Student  honor. 

6.   The  honor  system. 

c.  Ladies'  tailoring. 

d.  Industry. 

e.  Study. 
/.    Right. 
g.   Law. 
h.   Crime. 

1.  Country  life. 
j.    Cook,  chef. 

k.  Walking  and  running. 
I.    Breathing  and  panting. 
m.  Singing. 

n.  Deceptive,  misleading. 
o.   Amusement,  recreation. 
p.  Bashful,  modest. 

1  Only  a  few  terms  are  here  presented;  every  instructor  will  have 
accessible  an  abundance  of  such  material.  Young  people  suffer 
sadly  from  a  lack  of  training  in  the  definition  and  discrimination  of 
terms;  therefore  frequent  practice  of  this  sort  is  desirable. 


TESTING  COMPLETED  COMPOSITION         135 

q.  Defeat,  overthrow. 

r.  Skilful,  dexterous. 

s.  Debate,  deliberate. 

t.  Bravery. 

u.  Growth. 

v.  Horticulture  and  pomology. 

w.  Agriculture,  farming. 

x.  Tree  surgery,  pruning. 

y.  Believing,  knowing. 

z.  Comprehending,  apprehending. 

XLI V.  Coherence ;  showing  forth  the  order  of  the 
thought.  —  Coherence  of  expression  exists  when  the 
connectedness  of  the  thought  is  plainly  shown  forth. 
The  reader  must  be  made  to  see  (a)  how  each  thought- 
block  bears  on  the  main  topic,  and  (6)  how  it  relates 
itself  both  with  the  thought-blocks  that  precede  and 
with  those  that  follow  it  (V).  In  the  simplest  lan- 
guage, this  means  that  when  a  writer  passes  from  one 
thought-block  (or  subthought-block)  to  another ,  he  must 
show  clearly  (a)  that  the  thought  is  changing  and  (b) 
how  the  new  part  of  the  thought  is  related  to  all  that  has 
gone  before.  The  devices  for  indicating  this  are  very 
simple. 

Note  1:  A  command  of  the  devices  for  securing  coherence 
(which  is,  in  fact,  but  the  precise  indication  of  shades  of  meaning 
in  sentences  and  paragraphs)  is  indispensable  to  the  writer  who 
aspires  to  think  and  to  express  his  thought  in  any  manner  less 
crude  than  that  of  the  grammar-school  pupil. 

Note  2:  The  simplest  indication  of  connection  depends  on  the 
introduction  of  connective  words  or  phrases. 

Examples:  First ;  second  ;  Further 

;  Again  ;  Another  reason  ; 

No  less  significant ;  The  next  step ;  More- 


136      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN   COMPOSITION 


over ;  However ;  Likewise ; 

In  addition ;  But ;  Yet ;  etc., 

etc. 

Note  3:  Transitional  phrases  or  paragraphs  (" pass-over"  or 
"bridge-across"  sentences  or  paragraphs)  are  as  indispensable 
as  connective  words.  They  are  necessary  to  make  the  connec- 
tion more  complete,  as  it  is  desirable  to  do  when  one  wishes  to 
refer  to  or  summarize  or  reassert  what  has  gone  before  and  at  the 
same  time  to  introduce  what  is  to  come.  The  first  sentence  in  this 
note  is  a  transition  sentence,  bridging  over  from  the  thought 
of  note  2  to  that  of  note  3. 

Example  (paragraph  that  summarizes  preceding  thought): 
"It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  under  the  present  organization  of 
society,  women  as  a  class  are  dependent  —  dependent  in  the 
home,  whether  as  daughter  or  wife,  and  dependent  outside  the 
home  —  and  that  they  are  dependent  because  they  are  not  able 
to  demand  economic  equality  with  men.  Let  us  now  see  what 
would  be  the  probable  effect  of  giving  the  ballot  to  this  dependent 
class  of  citizens."  (Notice  that  one  sentence  points  back  to 
what  has  already  been  said,  and  that  the  other  points  forward 
to  what  is  yet  to  be  said.) 

Note  4:  The  use  of  frequent  summaries,  as  a  means  of  keeping 
the  reader  fully  aware  of  the  thought  and  the  advance  it  has 
made,  is  advisable.  The  paragraph  quoted  in  note  3  is  a  para- 
graph both  of  summary  and  of  transition.  Summarizing 
paragraphs  inserted  between  divisions  of  the  thought,  even 
though  no  transitional  expressions  be  used  in  them,  are  notices 
to  the  reader  that  here  one  part  of  the  thought  is  brought  to  a  close. 

Note  5:  Sometimes  it  is  sufficient  merely  to  place  near  the 
beginning  of  a  division  the  words  that  indicate  the  new  topic. 

Example:  "The  source  of  his  dissatisfaction  is  easily  dis- 
covered." (Of  course  it  is  understood  that  the  dissatisfaction 
has  already  been  the  subject  of  discussion  hi  the  composition.) 

In  relying  on  this  method,  one  should  make  sure  that  the 
words  are  prominent  enough  and  the  change  of  the  thought  evident 
enough  to  attract  attention  immediately. 


TESTING  COMPLETED  COMPOSITION        137 


44.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XLIV 

1-4.  Review  twelve  of  the  themes  that  you  prepared  some 
time  ago.  Of  these,  lay  aside  the  four  that  seem  least  connected, 
or  coherent.  —  Examine  these  four  themes  one  by  one,  noting 
in  each:  — 

a.  The  places  where  the  thought  changes. 

b.  Whether  this  change  of  thought  is  clearly  indicated. 

c.  Whether  the  change  of  thought  is  indicated  in  such  a 

way  as  to  make  plain  why  what  follows  belongs  with 

what  precedes. 

In  ekch  of  these  four  themes,  insert  connective  words  wherever 
you  think  they  would  not  be  out  of  place.  Compare  the  effect 
produced  by  the  remodeled  theme  with  that  produced  by  the 
original. 

5.  Write  a  paragraph  in  which  the  connection  shall  be  made 
plain  without  the  use  of  connective  words.     If  possible,  avoid 
abruptness;  but  certainly  avoid  incoherence. 

6.  Rewrite  this  paragraph,  using  connective  words  wherever 
they  can  be  introduced. 

7.  Write  two  quite  distinct  paragraphs  about  some  subject 
in  which  you  are  interested. 

8.  Write  a  transitional  paragraph  (preferably  short)  that  will 
serve  to  connect  these  two  paragraphs.    Combine  the  three 
paragraphs  into  a  complete  paper,  making  any  adjustments  that 
you  find  necessary.     In  doing  so,  notice  whether  there  be  need 
of  as  much  as  a  paragraph  of  transition,  or  whether  a  sentence 
or  two,  worked  into  the  paragraphs  first  written,  will  not  connect 
then  sufficiently. 

9.  Vary  the  exercises  of  7-8  thus:  Let  A  write  paragraph  1; 
B  add  sentences  or  a  paragraph  of  transition;  and  C  supply  the 
closing  paragraph.     Or,  let  B  supply  the  last  paragraph,  and  C 
afterward  supply  the  transition. 

10.  Taking   a   paragraph   from   one   of   Emerson's   essays, 
endeavor  to  supply  connective  expressions  to  make  the  thought 


138       THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

clearer.     Do  the  same  with  a  paragraph  from  one  of  Bacon's 
essays. 

11.  Write  a  theme  about  coherence  in  the  writing  of  Emer- 
son or  of  Bacon. 

12.  Strike  out  all  the  connective  expressions  you  find  in  a 
paragraph  of  one  of  Macaulay's  essays.     Note  the  result.    Write 
a  theme  about  coherence  in  Macaulay's  writing. 

13.  Read  several  paragraphs  from   Matthew  Arnold    (say 
from  the  essay  on  "The   Function  of   Criticism").     Strike  out 
all  the  expressions  that  give  connectedness.     Does  he  use  any 
means   other   than   connectives   for   securing   coherence?     For 
instance,  does  he  repeat  in  some  form  what  he  has  already 
said?     Does  he  use  demonstrative  expressions  that  point  either 
back  to  previous  ideas,  or  forward  to  ideas  that  he  is  about 
to  introduce?     Does  he  letter,  number,  or  otherwise  mark,  the 
separate  stages  of  his  thought?     Does  he  invert  his  sentences, 
thus   making   them   couple  together  more  securely?     Write  a 
theme  of  three  paragraphs  about  Arnold's  methods  of  securing 
coherence. 

XLV.  Coherence  and  emphasis;  keeping  the  main 
thought  prominent.  —  No  composition  will  be  coherent 
in  which  the  topic  thought  is  not  made  the  center  of 
attention.  There  are  ways  of  writing  that  quite 
obscure  this  topic  thought,  and  there  are  ways  of 
writing  that  will  keep  it  always  present  in  the  reader's 
mind.  No  composition  is  well  written  the  topic 
thought  of  which  has  not  been  made  unmistakably  the 
central  thought  of  the  paper;  so  that,  no  matter  what 
phase  of  the  topic  is  discussing,  the  topic  itself  will 
still  be  clearly  in  mind. 

Note  1 :  This  is  as  true  of  paragraphs  as  it  is  of  whole  composi- 
tions. 


TESTING  COMPLETED  COMPOSITION         139 

Note  2:   Among  the  means  of  keeping  a  thought  prominent  are: 
a.  Putting  it  in  emphatic  positions  (VI;  XXVII,  note  3; 

XXVIII,  note  3). 
6.    Giving  it  more  space  than  is  given  to  other  thoughts 

associated  with  it  (XXXVI,  note  3). 
c.    Referring  to  it  often,  reasserting  it,  repeating  it  in 

varied  ways,  etc. 

45.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XLV 

1.  Select  two  of  the  themes  you  have  already  written.     Re- 
construct them  so  that  the  topic  thought  shall  be  very  prominent 
at  the  beginning. 

2.  Again  reconstruct  them,  making  the  topic  thought  espe- 
cially prominent  at  the  close. 

3.  Again  reconstruct  them,  making  the  topic  thought  most 
prominent  near  the  middle. 

4.  Pick  out  four  or  five  of  your  themes  that  appear  ineffective. 
Rewrite  them,  saying  as  little  as  you  can,  without  becoming 
obscure,  about  the  subordinate  matters  their  working-thought 
involves,  and  dwelling  as  much  as  possible  upon  the  main  thought. 
Are  the  papers  improved?    Write  a  paragraph  based  upon  your 
observation. 

5.  Write  a  paragraph  in  which  you  make  the  central  thought 
prominent  by  referring  to  it  frequently. 

6.  Write  a  paragraph  in  which  you  make  the  topic  thought 
prominent  by  reasserting  and  repeating  it  several  times.     (In 
this,  try  at  the  same  time  to  vary  the  forms  in  which  you  repeat 
the  thought.) 

7.  Write  a  paragraph  as  directed  in  (5),  but  do  not  actually 
state  the  central  thought  except  at  the  end.     Does  the  employ- 
ment of  suspense  and  place-emphasis  make  the  thought  more 
prominent? 

8.  Write  a  paragraph  beginning  with  the  assertion  of  the 
central  thought,  repeating  this  thought  in  some  form  in  each  of 
the  thought-blocks  and  at  the  end.     Is  the  paragraph  clearer? 


140      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

Is  there  any  monotonous  repetition  of  terms?  With  a  little 
care,  can  you  substitute  equivalent  expressions  for  enough  of 
these  terms  to  prevent  this  monotony?  Try  it.  —  What  has  this 
attempt  taught  you  about  your  vocabulary? 

XL VI.  Coherence ;  headless  beginnings.  —  The  be- 
ginning of  a  composition  should  contain  all  that  is  essen- 
tial to  an  understanding  of  the  composition ,  even  though 
some  of  this  matter  be  expressed  also  in  the  title. 

Poor: 

GOING  TO  AUNT  JANE'S 
This  trip  was  one  of  the  most  delightful  I  ever  took . 

Right: 

GOING  TO  AUNT  JANE'S 

Our  trip  last  winter  to  Aunt  Jane's  was  one  of  the  most 
delightful . 

Poor: 

HARMFUL  BOOKS 

Some  may  not  think  they  do  any  harm,  but  I  know  they 
do;  I  have  been  there. 

Right: 

HARMFUL  BOOKS 

Some  may  not  think  that  books  can  do  harm  —  that  there 
are  no  harmful  books.  But  I  know  there  are,  for  books 
—  some  books  —  have  harmed  me. 

46.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XL VI 

1.  Review    two   of    your    themes.     Do    you    find    headless 
beginnings? 

2.  Follow  the  editorial  articles  in  a  daily  paper  for  three 
days.     Observe  the  way  in  which  they  begin.     Do  you  find  any 
headless  or  otherwise  obscure  beginnings? 

3.  Write  a  paragraph  embodying  your  observations. 


TESTING  COMPLETED  COMPOSITION        141 

XLVII.  Coherence ;  inference,  concession,  contrast 
and  cumulative  connectives.  —  Connectives  are  fre- 
quently omitted  unwisely  between  clauses  or  sentences 
of  certain  kinds.  Make  sure  that  no  mistake  in  the 
meaning  will  result  from  the  omission  before  leaving 
out  the  connectives  in  such  positions;  namely:  — 

a.  Between  clauses,  sentences,  or  paragraphs  one  of  which 
states  a  consequence  of  the  other.  Example:  He  was 
very  poor.  [As  a  result]  he  had  no  political  influ- 
ence. 

6.  Between  expressions  the  second  of  which  makes  a  con- 
cession or  reservation  concerning  that  which  the  first 
asserts.  Example:  He  is  unworthy  of  belief.  [To 
be  sure]  he  has  numerous  friends  who  seem  to  believe 
in  him. 

c.  Between  expressions  one  of  which  is  in  contrast  with  or 
contradiction  to  the  other.  Example  (contradiction): 
We  hear  frequently  of  the  happy  lot  of  the  teacher. 
[But  is  his  lot  happy?]  He  teaches  year  after  year 
things  he  has  long  known  by  heart;  he  has  to  deal 
almost  entirely  with  persons  whose  minds  are  imma- 
ture, whose  prejudices  are  still  uncurbed,  whose 
judgments  are  as  quick  as  they  are  illogical,  and 
whose  experience  of  men  and  the  world  has  been  so 
slight  that  they  have  but  an  inadequate  conception 
of  even  the  rudiments  of  life.  In  addition  to  work 
in  the  classroom,  he  has  often  an  excessive  amount 
of  home  work  to  do  in  the  reading  of  class  and  exami- 
nation papers  and  the  preparation  of  exercises.  His 
vacation  time,  supposed  to  be  his  own,  .  .  . 

Example  two  (contrast) :  Against  boats  of  this  type,  builders 
urge  the  objection,  that  they  are  too  heavy  for  speed. 
[On  the  other  hand,  however]  we  may  urge  that  they 
are  stronger  and  are  able  to  receive  and  to  endure 


142      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

the  bufferings  of  far  stormier  waters  than  can  those 
of  the  rival  type. 

d.  Between  a  part  that  precedes  and  a  part  that  follows, 
when  the  part  that  follows  takes  up  the  idea  of  the  part 
that  precedes  and  adds  a  further  accumulation  of  fact 
about  it.  Example:  [The  preceding  part  has  dealt 
with  the  misbehavior  of  a  man  when  drunk;  the 
following  part  gathers  together  a  new  set  of  facts 
about  such  misbehavior.]  [Moreover,  his  misbe- 
havior is  not  confined  to  humiliating  performances 
in  public.]  For  when  he  returns  home,  he  miscarries 
himself  toward  his  family.  He  abuses  his  wife. 
Often  he  strikes  her.  He  is  violent  toward  his  children. 
His  language  is  vile;  his  behavior  is  threatening. 
He  forgets  his  love  and  his  duty,  and  knows  only  the 
irritation  produced  on  his  overtried  nerves  by  these 
innocent  dear  ones.  .  .  . 

47.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTION  XL VII 

1.  Write  sentences,  or  groups  of  sentences,  as  directed 
below:  — 

a.  Ten,  in  which  one  part  states  a  result  or  consequence  of 

the  fact  mentioned  in  the  other  part. 

b.  Ten,  in  which  the  second  part  makes  a  concession  or 

reservation    concerning    that    which    the    first    part 
asserts. 

c.  Ten,  in  which  the  second  part  stands  in  contrast  with 

or  contradiction  to  the  first  part. 

d.  Ten,  in  which  the  following  part  takes  up  anew  the  idea 

of  the  preceding  part,  and  adds  a  new  set  of  facts 

about  it. 

In  all  these  expressions,  omit  the  connectives,  endeavoring 
to  put  in  place  of  them  such  punctuation  marks  as  will  make 
the  meaning  clear.  Do  you  find  any  in  which  the  punctuation 
marks  are  not  sufficient  to  show  forth  the  relation  between  the 
parts? 


TESTING  COMPLETED  COMPOSITION        143 

2.  Take  those  sentences  in  which  punctuation  proved  inade- 
quate as  a  means  of  revealing  the  relation  between  the  parts,  and 
throw  them  into  a  different  form,  in  which  the  thought  shall  be 
as  clear  as  it  was  before  the  connectives  were  omitted. 

3.  Write  two  connected  paragraphs,  one  stating  a  conse- 
quence of  the  other. 

4.  Write  two  connected  paragraphs,  one  making  a  conces- 
sion or  reservation  concerning  that  which  the  other  asserts. 

5.  Write  two  connected  paragraphs,  one  standing  in  contrast 
with  or  contradiction  to  the  other. 

6.  Write  two  connected  paragraphs,  of  which  the  second 
takes  up  anew  and  again  deals  with   the   topic  of  the  first. 


IV.    THOUGHT-BUILDING  TOWARD  SPECIAL 

ENDS;     THE  FORMS  OF  DISCOURSE 

AND  JOURNALISTIC  WRITING. 

XL VIII.  Thought-building  toward  special  ends; 
the  forms  of  discourse.  —  Two  fundamental  purposes 
lead  us  to  build  up  thought.  The  first  is,  to  increase 
and  order  our  own  store  of  knowledge;  the  other  is, 
to  put  this  knowledge  in  such  form  that  it  will  be  of 
influence  on  others.  Speaking  or  writing  always 
accompanies  the  second  purpose;  neither  need  ac- 
company the  first,  although  each  is  very  helpful 
toward  it. 

When  we  are  building  up  thought  in  language  in 
order  to  influence  others,  we  decide  what  one  particu- 
lar thing  we  wish  definitely  to  say  about  our  subject, 
why  we  wish  to  say  it,  and  finally  the  method  that 
will  be  most  effective  in  saying  it.  (Review  sections 
III  and  XIII  carefully.)  There  may  be  various 
reasons  why  we  wish  to  express  our  thought,  and 
there  are  many  ways  in  which  to  express  it;  but 
scholars  and  teachers  have  decided  that  all  these  aims 
and  methods  fall  into  four  general  classes.  These 
classes  are  represented  by  four  types  of  writing  which 
are  called  the  four  FORMS  OF  DISCOURSE.  This  is  a 
very  general  classification,  however,  and  the  classes 
often  overlap  one  another. 

144 


TOWARD  SPECIAL  ENDS  145 

This  classification  depends  more  on  the  general  sort 
of  effect  that  the  writer  wishes  to  have  on  his  reader 
—  more  on  the  general  sort  of  thought-influence  that 
he  wishes  the  reader  to  undergo  —  than  it  does  on 
anything  else.  This  general  sort  of  thought-effect 
aimed  at  we  describe  as  the  purpose  of  the  composi- 
tion. The  writer  may  desire  (a)  to  tell  a  story  about 
something,  (b)  to  picture  something  forth,  (c)  to  explain 
something,  or  (d)  to  prove  something.  Accordingly,  the 
purpose  of  a  composition  may  be  (a)  narrative,  (b) 
descriptive,  (c)  explanatory  (expository),  or  (d)  argu- 
mentative. 

Whichever  of  these  aims  it  adopts,  however,  it  may 
employ  all  the  means  of  thought-building  that  we  have 
studied.  In  DESCRIPTION  it  will  employ  them  to  por- 
tray, or  picture  forth,  the  subject  in  a  particular  aspect. 
In  NARRATION  it  will  employ  them  to  give  an  account,  or 
history,  of  the  subject  passing  through  a  certain  series 
of  events.  In  EXPOSITION  it  will  employ  them  to  give  an 
explanation  of  the  subject,  in  order  to  make  certain  facts 
about  it  clearly  understood.  In  ARGUMENTATION  it  will 
employ  them  to  show  that  certain  things  about  the  subject 
are  true. 

Note:  From  these  facts,  anyone  can  see  that  there  naturally 
must  be  numerous  special  applications  of  the  principles  of  thought- 
building  in  order  to  construct  a  description,  a  narrative,  an 
exposition,  or  an  argument.  But  the  student  who  carefully  and 
persistently  applies  the  principles  already  explained  in  this  book, 
in  undertaking  to  describe,  to  narrate,  to  explain,  or  to  argue, 
will  find  that  he  has  the  foundation  for  successful  work,  and 
next  needs  to  gain  the  necessary  skill  through  practising.  There- 


146      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

fore,  the  more  detailed  study  of  the  special  principles  of  forms 
of  discourse  is  left  until  he  takes  up  more  advanced  courses  in 
composition.  He  should,  however,  carefully  review  at  this  time 
sections  XL  and  XLIII,  with  their  notes.  Other  sections  that 
contain  hints  especially  applicable  to  one  or  more  of  the  forms  of 
discourse  are  indexed,  under  "  Description,"  "  Narration,"  etc. 

XLIX.  Thought-building  in  journalism;  the  pur- 
pose of  newspaper  writing.  —  The  term  "  journalism" 
includes  more  than  newspaper  journalism,  but,  as  the 
newspaper  is  the  most  common  and  best-known  form 
of  journal,  we  will  speak  of  journalism  only  in  the 
sense  of  newspaper  journalism.  We  can  fairly  do 
this,  because  newspapers  are  more  and  more  assuming 
the  characteristics  of  magazines  and  other  periodicals, 
and  because  even  the  reviews  are  assuming  somewhat 
the  character  of  news  journals. 

We  have  already  seen  (especially  in  section  VI  and 
its  notes)  that  newspaper  writing  has  a  specialized 
method.  This  fact  must  not,  however,  lead  us  to 
think  that  the  usual  forms  of  discourse  in  other  types 
of  writing  do  not  occur  in  newspaper  writing.  On  the 
contrary,  they  are  the  very  foundation  of  it. 

Let  us  see  why.  The  great  aim  of  journalism  as  a 
profession1  is  (a)  to  present  the  news  and  (6)  to  inter- 
pret it.  Speaking  broadly,  we  say  that  the  work  of 
presenting  the  news  is  done  by  reporters,  and  that  the 
work  of  interpreting  the  news  is  done  by  editorial 
writers.  When  a  reporter  presents  news,  he  either 
tells  a  story  (narration)  or  describes  a  person,  scene, 

1  The  profession  of  journalism  is  inseparably  connected  with  the 
business  of  publishing. 


TOWARD  SPECIAL  ENDS  147 

or  thing  (description).  When  an  editorial  writer 
interprets  news,  he  either  explains  it  (exposition)  or 
attempts  to  prove  something  about  or  by  it  (argu- 
mentation). 

In  addition  to  this,  most  newspapers  now  contain 
a  great  deal  of  writing  that  is  intended  to  interest, 
inform,  or  amuse  us  in  about  the  same  way  that  a 
book  would  interest,  inform,  or  amuse  us.  Naturally, 
these  general-interest  articles  contain  all  the  forms  of 
discourse. 

The  newspapers,  therefore,  contain  literary  articles, 
news  articles,  and  editorial  articles.  This  amounts 
to  saying  that  all  the  principles  of  thought-building  and 
of  literary  form,  structure,  method,  and  style  are  funda- 
mentally involved  in  journalistic  writing. 

Note:  As  an  exercise,  the  student  should  examine  a  Saturday 
afternoon  or  a  Sunday  morning  newspaper,  picking  out  all  the 
news  articles,  all  the  editorial  articles,  and  all  the  general-interest 
articles.  He  should  also  observe  the  occurrence  in  each  sort  of 
article  of  the  different  forms  of  discourse  —  narration,  descrip- 
tion, exposition,  and  argumentation.  (By  this  time  the  student 
of  course  understands  that  in  practical  writing,  all  the  methods 
of  thought-building  may  be  found  commingled;  as  may  also  all 
the  forms  of  discourse,  some  one  of  them  appearing  more  or  less 
clearly  as  the  main  form,  and  the  others  as  subordinate,  or 
auxiliary  forms.) 

L.  Newspaper  writing;  reporting.  —  By  reporting 
is  meant  the  gathering  and  the  writing  of  news. 
News  may  be  broadly  defined  as  information  that  is 
worth  while,  carried  in  good  form  to  persons  who  will 
be  benefited  by  it  or  interested  in  it.  More  narrowly 


148      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

and  more  accurately  defined  for  the  immediate  guid- 
ance of  the  reporter,  news  is  a  new,  uncommon,  and 
more  or  less  unexpected  thing  or  event,  or  intelligence  of 
something  that  has  recently  taken  place,  not  necessarily 
unexpected,  which  as  yet  is  not  generally  or  but  imper- 
fectly known.  In  other  words,  the  elements  of  news  in 
this  narrower  sense  are  novelty,  timeliness,  interest,  and 
information.  Not  all  of  these  are  necessary  at  the 
same  time. 

Note  1:  The  reporter  is  the  man  who  gathers  and  writes  up 
news.  He  is  either  a  staff  reporter  or  a  correspondent.  The 
correspondent  is  a  reporter  who  lives  and  does  his  reporting  out- 
side of  the  town  where  the  paper  is  published,  sending  in  by  mail, 
telegraph,  or  telephone  the  news  that  he  gathers. 

Note  2:  At  this  point  the  student  should  learn  a  few  terms  of 
the  newspaper  cant,  or  slang.  A  " story"  is  any  piece  of  news 
that  a  reporter  is  set  to  get  or  write;  if  told  to  report  a  funeral, 
he  says  that  he  is  on  a  funeral  "story."  When  his  report  is 
printed,  he  says,  "How  did  you  like  my  story?"  If  he  is  set  to 
describe  a  new  automobile  or  explain  a  new  chemical  process,  that 
also  is  a  "story." 

The  part  of  his  town  that  the  reporter  is  expected  to  go  over 
every  day  for  news  is  his  "cover,"  "run,"  or  "beat." 

A  reporter  who  is  sent  out  specially  to  get  a  particular  story 
is  on  "  assignment." 

When  a  story  appears  in  print,  it  is  "under  a  head."  The 
"head"  is  the  row  or  rows  of  large  type  standing  above  the  story 
proper.  Some  heads  have  two  divisions  or  more;  these  are 
called  "decks"  or  "banks."  Ordinarily,  to  be  a  good  head,  the 
head  must  give  an  abstract  of  the  news  contained  in  the  story. 
Only  a  skilful  writer  can  produce  good  headlines.  A  subhead  is 
a  line  across  the  column,  separating  parts  of  a  story  and  serving 
as  a  sort  of  title  to  that  part  which  immediately  follows  it  (see 
LI,  note  3,  examples  1  and  2). 


TOWARD  SPECIAL  ENDS  149 

LI.  Reporting;  writing  the  news  story.  —  The  most 
important  thing  in  reporting,  except  ability  to  get  the 
news,  is  ability  to  write  a  good  story.  No  one,  who  is 
not  thoroughly  skilled  in  all  the  fundamental  processes 
of  thought-building,  and  who  has  not  an  extensive 
vocabulary  and  a  good  style,  can  hope  to  turn  out  a 
a  story  that  will  deserve  praise.  The  structure  of  the 
news  story,  however,  is  not  itself  difficult  when  one 
begins  to  acquire  skill. 

Note  1:  Most  important  in  the  news  story  is  the  "lead,"  or 
introduction.  The  lead  is  not,  however,  an  introduction  in  the 
common  sense;  it  is  the  leading  part  of  the  report,  or  story,  and 
it  substantially  corresponds  to  what  we  have  learned  to  know  as  the 
working-thought,  except  that  it  does  not  have  to  be  in  a  single 
sentence.  The  ideal  lead  is  so  complete  in  telling  the  whole  story 
in  comparatively  few  words  that  if  no  one  read  anything  but  the 
lead  itself,  everyone  would,  nevertheless,  know  all  the  main  facts 
of  the  event.  Associated  Press  stories  are  so  written  that  any 
part  of  them  after  the  lead  can  be  cut  off  or  omitted  without  de- 
priving the  readers  of  the  essential  news  or  breaking  the  continuity 
of  the  story.  The  "  A.  P."  stories  are  telegraphed  all  over  the 
country.  When  the  account  of  an  event  in  New  York  City  is 
telegraphed  to  Albany,  N.  Y.,  all  the  story  is  likely  to  be  sent,  as 
being  of  interest  to  Albany  readers  because  of  their  nearness  to 
and  association  with  New  York.  As  sent  to  Chicago,  however, 
the  story  will  consist  of  the  lead  and  two  or  three  of  the  following 
paragraphs,  which  contain  the  more  detailed  outline  of  the  most 
notable  facts.  For  San  Francisco,  however,  only  the  lead  is 
likely  to  be  put  on  the  wire,  unless  the  story  is  one  of  exceptional 
interest. 

Note  2:  As  the  lead  summarizes  the  whole  story,  it  must  give 
the  principal  place  to  the  most  important  news  part  of  the  story. 
(See  index:  "Proportion.")  This  important  part  is  called  tha 
"feature"  of  the  story.  Only  experienced  newsmen  can  detect 


150      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

the  feature  infallibly,  but  attempting  to  do  so  gives  the  student 
excellent  training  in  using  his  wits  and  his  judgment.  The  feature 
is  that  which  makes  the  story  especially  interesting.  Often  it  does 
not  appear  prominently  in  the  accounts  the  reporter  gets  about 
what  has  happened;  he  has  to  see  it  himself.  Time  after  time, 
it  will  be  merely  something  novel,  that  distinguishes  the  story 
from  a  dead  monotony  of  stories  of  the  same  kind  that  are  all 
the  time  turning  up.  Example:  A  shed  worth  $250  is  partly 
burned.  As  usual  the  fire  department  is  called  out.  Even  in  a 
small  town  these  facts  may  be  so  ordinary  that  no  report  will  be 
printed,  or  nothing  more  than  a  line  or  two.  But  in  the  shed  loft 
pigeons  have  nested.  The  heat  cooks  them.  In  trying  to  do 
something  for  them,  a  homeless  little  bootblack  gets  himself 
scorched  so  badly  that  the  police  send  him  to  the  hospital. 
Here  are  two  unusual  elements  of  interest.  The  story  is  no 
longer  merely  the  story  of  a  shed  fire;  it  is  the  story  of  gentle 
birds  lost  and  the  tender-heartedness  of  a  boy  of  the  streets. 
Plainly  the  pigeons  and  the  bootblack  make  the  feature  of  this 
story. 

Another  example:  An  ordinary  athletic  contest  is  going  on; 
nothing  unusual  depends  on  it.  One  of  the  contestants,  waiting 
to  go  in,  sinks  to  the  ground.  It  turns  out  that  he  has  been  ill 
for  some  time,  and  has  been  warned  by  the  doctor  not  to  engage 
in  violent  exercise,  but  has  disregarded  the  advice  in  order  to 
keep  another  man  from  getting  his  position.  Such  an  incident 
has  enough  of  the  unusual  about  it  to  become  a  feature,  and  a 
good  story  would  "play  up"  this  feature  prominently  in  the  lead. 
It  is  a  case  of  the  romance  of  actual  life;  ambition,  jealousy,  and 
rivalry  are  revealed  in  ordinary  events. 

Another  example:  Observe  that  in  this  story  the  feature  and 
the  substantial  information  are  not  the  same.  The  unusual 
part  of  the  story  (i.e.,  the  "  news "  feature)  is  the  fact  that 
these  merchants  and  other  prominent  men  had  to  walk  to  end 
their  trip.  The  less  unusual  part  is  the  account  of  the  trip  itself. 
The  feature  occupies  the  first  two  decks  of  the  head  (p.  162), 
and  the  place  of  the  lead  in  the  story  itself.  This  is  an  excel- 


TOWARD   SPECIAL  ENDS  151 

lent  illustration  of  a  "  feature  "  that  is  not  an  essential  part  of 
the  facts  at  all. 

[Lead.]  The  Commercial  Club  trade-raisers  were  compelled 
to  walk  the  last  three  blocks  of  their  twenty-third  annual  trip, 
which  ended  last  night.  Their  train  "  stalled  "  on  the  hill 
leading  into  the  Grand  Central  Depot  at  Second  and  Wyan- 
dotte  Streets. 

[Story.]  The  trip  was  the  most  successful  ever  made  by  the 
Commercial  Club,  those  who  made  the  trip  said.  Several  ex- 
pressed the  belief  that  the  whole  of  the  population  of  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  would  move  immediately  to  Kansas  City,  so  hard 
and  persistently  was  the  campaign  pushed  in  the  ninety-one 
towns  visited. 

The  trip  which  ended  last  night  began  last  Sunday  night. 
The  special  train  was  made  up  of  thirteen  coaches.  There 
were  162  excursionists  aboard.  Every  effort  was  made  to  make 
all  on  the  train  comfortable  and  all  agreed  last  night  that  this 
had  been  accomplished. 

The  itinerary  of  the  trip  included  most  of  the  important 
towns  in  Northern  Kansas  and  Southern  Nebraska.  The  first 
stop  was  made  at  Falls  City,  Neb.,  at  7.45  o'clock  last  Mon- 
day morning.  From  then  until  the  last  stop  at  Hiawatha, 
Kas.,  yesterday  afternoon,  there  was  little  rest  for  the  excursion- 
ists aboard.  There  was  something  going  on  all  the  time. 

Note  3 :  When  the  story  has  no  element  of  novelty  or  unusual 
interest  to  be  emphasized  as  a  feature  in  the  lead,  and  when  the 
body  of  information  contained  in  the  story  is  varied  and  de- 
tailed, the  lead  is  sometimes  modified  into  a  general  statement, 
which  is  followed  up  by  development,  explanation,  or  other 
amplification  in  the  body  of  the  story;  see  sections  XIV-XXIV, 
and  especially  XIV,  XVII,  XXII  and  XXIV.  In  writing  agri- 
cultural and  industrial  news,  or  other  scientific  facts  for  popular 
reading,  this  modified  form  of  lead  is  common.  The  nearer  the 
lead  comes  to  the  news  form,  the  better.  Stories  of  the  sort  just 
mentioned  very  frequently  have  poor  leads.  Several  examples 


152      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

of  satisfactory  leads  follow.  Many  papers  now  print  the  lead 
in  more  prominent  type  than  is  used  for  the  rest  of  the  story. 

Example  i: 

[Lead.]  President  White  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  is 
expected  to  arrive  in  New  York  to-night  to  take  a  hand  in  the 
anthracite  coal  situation. 

A  telegram  from  him  to  the  miners'  committee  here  was 
reported  to  have  expressed  astonishment  and  dismay  at  the 
action  of  the  full  committee  in  repudiating  the  agreement  with 
the  operators  to  which  the  miners'  sub-committee  had  subscribed. 

The  full  committee  of  the  miners  held  a  long  session  to-day 
with  the  district  board  of  the  three  anthracite  miners'  unions, 
without  coming  to  an  agreement  on  what  was  best  to  do  next. 

Chairman  Green  of  this  committee  declared  this  afternoon 
that  he  still  hoped  for  peace. 

[Story.]  "We  are  between  two  evils,"  said  another  member 
of  the  committee.  "We  were  practically  all  of  us  for  the  tenta- 
tive agreement  drawn  up  by  our  sub-committee,  and  it  would 
have  gone  through  if  details  of  the  agreement  had  not  leaked  to 
the  public.  The  radicals  then  got  up  the  Wilkesbarre  mass 
meeting,  and  now  the  miners  are  clamoring  for  no  surrender. 

"They  want  an  actual  raise  of  10  per  cent  in  wages  and  they 
demand  the  check-off  system.  What  can  we  do?" 

The  miners  say  they  object  to  a  revival  of  the  Anthracite 
Strike  Commission  because  of  its  long  delays  in  settling  disputes 
—  delays  which  ran  up  to  seven  months  in  some  cases,  causing 
the  union  to  lose  thousands  in  wages. 

The  Agreement  Proposed. 

As  the  case  now  stands,  the  miners  have  rejected  an  agreement 
which  — 

Abolishes  the  sliding  scale. 

Grants  a  so-called  10  per  cent  advance  in  wages  over  the 
Anthracite  Strike  Commission's  scale  of  April  1,  1903.  This 
raise,  the  miners  say,  amounts,  with  the  abolition  of  the  sliding 


TOWARD  SPECIAL  ENDS  153 


scale,  to  5i4ff  per  cent,  as  against  a  raise  of  5i^  per  cent  granted 
the  other  day  when  the  soft  coal  troubles  were  ended. 

Names  the  control  period  at  four  years. 

Refuses  a  check-off  system.  This  check-off  system  is  one  of 
the  most  urgent  demands  of  the  miners.  Under  it  the  operators 
take  out  so  much  each  month  from  every  miner's  wages,  say  50 
to  90  cents,  and  turn  it  into  the  union's  fund.  Under  the  scheme 
every  miner  is  practically  forced  into  the  union.  The  system  has 
long  been  in  use  in  the  soft  coal  field,  but  has  never  been  adopted 
in  the  anthracite  districts. 

A  Complete  Surprise. 

So  far  as  presidents  of  the  railroads  and  the  other  coal  opera- 
tors were  concerned,  the  break  in  the  negotiations  yesterday 
came  as  a  complete  surprise. 

Five  minutes  after  the  two  committees  of  ten,  respectively  of 
the  operators  and  the  miners,  had  come  together  at  2.30  P.  M., 
at  143  Liberty  street,  for  what  was  supposed  would  be  their  final 
and  ratifying  session,  the  sub-committee  of  four  of  the  miners 
announced  that  the  Tri-District  Committee  which  had  appointed 
them  would  not  stand  by  the  tentative  joint  agreement  signed  by 
the  respective  committees  of  four  of  the  miners  and  the  operators. 

The  repudiation  of  the  joint  agreement  was  the  result  of  recent 
miners'  mass  meetings  at  Wilkesbarre  and  elsewhere  in  the  hard 
coal  regions,  but  it  was  not  actually  resolved  upon  by  the  miners' 
committee  of  ten  until  an  hour  or  so  before  they  went  down  to 
Liberty  street  to  hold  the  "  final"  session.  The  miners  had 
wrestled  with  the  problem  all  night  at  the  Victoria  Hotel. 

Example  2: 

[Lead.]  The  method  employed  by  the  all-wise  head  of  "The 
Swiss  Family  Robinson,"  that  of  plunging  deep  into  knowledge 
of  each  object  in  turn  that  attracts  the  attention,  is  a  method  of 
education  so  strongly  recommended  by  Dr.  A.  A.  Nemand  of 
Nomanville  that  he  claims  thereby  to  save  five  out  of  the  re- 
quired 12  years  of  schooling  to  a  child. 


154      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

School  in  the  Home. 

[Story.]  His  theory  of  the  school  in  the  home,  on  which  he 
has  been  lecturing  for  several  years,  he  has  at  last  embodied  in  a 
book  by  that  name  which  has  just  been  published.  It  is  known 
that  Dr.  Nemand's  own  children,  one  of  whom  is  now  in  Harvard 
and  one  in  Radcliffe,  are  living  illustrations. 

He  writes:  "The  juvenile  mind  can  work  at  a  pressure,  with- 
out loss  of  strength,  health,  or  diminution  of  any  power.  On  the 
side  of  personal  efficiency,  American  education  is  one  of  the  most 
wasteful  things  in  the  whole  American  organization  of  life.  I 
have  again  and  again  found  children  to  be  able  to  do  three  and 
four  times  the  work  of  ordinary  school  children,  and  that  in  a 
third  or  half  the  time  usually  consumed.  To  be  sure,  a  little 
work  was  kept  up  throughout  the  long  vacation,  one  of  the 
absurdities  of  American  life. 

Can  Grasp  Important  Things. 

"The  child  mind  can  grasp  important  and  fundamental 
things  quite  as  readily  as  foolish  and  absurd  things.  Some  sort 
of  information  the  child  is  bound  to  gather. 

"The  silver  at  the  table,  the  food  and  its  sources,  the  glass, 
the  china,  and  so  on  throughout  the  field  of  daily  observation, 
all  things  become  the  media  for  the  conveying  of  exact  and  in- 
teresting knowledge.  There  are  great  treasures  in  the  libraries 
which  even  young  children  would  enjoy  if  they  only  had  the  tool 
by  which  they  could  use  them. 

"But  children  should  be  made  to  go  to  the  encyclopedia,  and 
to  think  for  themselves.  Perhaps  the  natural  alliance  between 
genius  and  irregularities  of  one  kind  or  another  is  due  to  just  the 
fact  that  the  genius  has  kept  his  power  of  observation  and  initia- 
tive unimpaired  and  perhaps  in  early  youth  escaped  the  brutaliz- 
ing and  leveling  process  which  we  call  education,  and  so  brought 
forth  something  which  was  at  least  his  own  and  not  the  crass 
product  passed  on  from  one  generation  to  the  next.  Ambition 
follows  interest." 


TOWARD  SPECIAL  ENDS  155 

Example  3: 

[Lead.]  Most  inexperienced  and  many  old  agriculturists 
think  that  good  crops  are  produced  by  rich  soils.  This  is  true 
only  if  all  the  elements  of  soil  richness  are  present  in  sufficient 
proportions,  yet  not  too  plenty. 

[Story.]  It  is  quite  possible  for  a  soil  to  be  so  rich  that  it  can 
be  sold  just  as  it  is  for  fertilizer,  and  yet  not  produce  any  crop 
itself.  The  explanation  is  that,  although  it  is  exceedingly  rich 
in  some  elements  of  plant  food,  it  is  not  a  balanced  soil.  It  lacks 
some  element  or  elements  that  are  necessary  for  plant  growth. 
The  experienced  farmer,  therefore,  prefers  a  poorer,  balanced  soil 
to  a  richer  soil  that  is  deficient  in  plant-food  elements. 

Though  there  are  all  sorts  of  fertilizers,  or  manures,  to  be  had 
under  various  names,  and  although  all  sorts  of  combinations  are 
made  of  these  manures  to  fit  them  to  the  needs  of  the  particular 
soil  and  crop  with  which  they  are  to  be  used,  yet  there  are  only 
three  fundamental  fertilizer  elements  —  nitrogen,  potash,  and 
phosphoric  acid.  Whatever  else  the  soil  lacks,  it  must  have 
these.  Theoretically,  a  " complete"  fertilizer  has  one  part  of 
nitrogen,  two  parts  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  three  parts  (or  a 
little  less)  of  potash.  Some  persons  regard  lime  as  a  fertilizer, 
but  this  it  is  not,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word.  Lime  counter- 
acts acid  in  the  soil;  its  use  is,  therefore,  mainly  to  restore  a 
balance. 

Remembering  these  simple  facts,  any  agriculturist  has  the 
basis  of  knowledge  necessary  to  deal  with  the  problems  of  manur- 
ing. These  problems  consist  in  finding  out  first;  whether  the  soil 
is  balanced  or  not  and  what  it  needs  to  balance  it;  and  second, 
whether  the  crop  to  be  raised  demands  a  standard  soil,  or  whether 
instead  it  needs  more  of  one  element  than  it  does  of  another  in 
proportion.  When  this  is  known  the  rest  of  the  fertilizing 
problem  is  merely  a  matter  of  computation  and  judgment. 

Example  4: 

[Lead.]  Bee-keeping  is  a  profitable  investment  for  any 
farmer,  not  only  because  of  the  market  value  of  honey,  but  be- 
cause of  the  fact  that  bees  bring  a  heavier  fruit  yield. 


156      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

[Story.]  In  an  apple  region  in  the  West  stood  two  orchards 
within  half  a  mile  of  each  other.  Both  orchards  had  the  identical 
soil,  moisture,  and  climatic  conditions.  One  of  the  orchards  bore 
remarkably;  the  other  gave  a  poorer  and  poorer  yield  each 
year. 

Finally,  on  the  border  of  the  heavy  bearing  orchard  was  found 
a  fallen  log  in  which  was  located  a  colony  of  wild  bees.  The 
other  orchard  had  no  bees  to  cross-pollenize  it,  and  so  slowly 
degenerated.  A  colony  of  bees  was  placed  in  the  orchard,  and 
beginning  with  the  next  season  it  bore  as  abundant  a  crop  as  the 
other  orchard. 

It  has  been  found  very  recently  that  even  cranberry  growers 
are  greatly  benefited  by  bees.  A  colony  placed  on  the  margin 
of  a  Cape  Cod  cranberry  bog  has  increased  the  yield  tremendously, 
though  a  small  portion  of  the  bog,  unprotected  from  the  wind, 
bore  almost  as  few  berries  as  ever.  The  bees  had  not  visited  it  as 
much! 

Other  Examples: 

[Lead.]  Experiments  carried  on  by  many  of  the  experiment 
stations  show  much  in  favor  of  the  cultivation  of  orchards.  The 
trees  are  healthier,  grow  larger,  have  better  fruit,  and  produce 
larger  profits.  [Story.]  Consists  of  a  detailed  development  of 
the  lead,  which,  in  this  instance,  is  a  statement  between  a  topic 
thought  and  a  working-thought. —  [Lead.]  Most  farmers  in 
Western  Massachusetts  may  be  unaware  that  the  soil  of  the 
Connecticut  Valley  has  been  surveyed  and  classified  into  a  series 
of  well-defined  types.  [Story.]  Consists  of  detailed  development 
by  method  of  section  XIV  (particulars;  history  of  the  survey), 
section  XXIV  (enumeration  of  effects),  and  XXII  (application 
of  principle). 

The  principle  of  the  news  lead  is  not  enough  observed  in  articles 
dealing  with  industrial,  agricultural  and  scientific  news  (infor- 
mation). 

Note  4 :  The  experienced  Writer  can  make  the  lead  exceedingly 
flexible  without  turning  it  from  its  purpose.  General-interest 


TOWARD  SPECIAL  ENDS  157 

articles  permit  great  freedom  in  the  form  and  contents  of  the 
lead.  As  was  indicated  before,  these  are  substantially  literary 
articles  used  for  journalistic  purposes.  The  journalistic  quality, 
if  notably  present,  lies  in  the  style  and  manner  rather  than  in 
the  structure. 

Note  5:  If  the  working-thought  be  clearly  outlined  in  the 
writer's  mind,  and  the  lead  be  based  directly  on  the  working- 
thought,  the  rest  of  the  story  will  develop  itself  naturally  by  taking 
up  the  thought-divisions  in  the  working-thought  one  by  one.  Let  it 
be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  the  rule  of  climax  as  ordinarily 
stated  is  often  reversed  in  news  writing  (see  section  VI  and  notes). 
That  is,  in  the  news  story,  the  most  important  thing  comes  first,  the 
next  important  comes  second,  and  so  on.  This  is  very  common  in 
practice.  Nevertheless,  it  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  an  absolute 
rule.  How  far  it  shall  be  followed  is  one  of  those  things  that 
must,  in  each  particular  instance,  be  left  to  the  judgment  and 
experience  of  the  writer.  The  practical  hint  is  this:  What  is 
written  up  as  a  matter  of  news  follows  the  news  rule;  what  is 
written  up  as  a  matter  of  more  literary  purpose  and  appeal  tends 
to  follow  more  strictly  the  artistic  rules  of  literary  emphasis, 
and,  therefore,  to  have  climax.  The  skilful  news  writer,  how- 
ever, is  able,  to  a  considerable  extent,  to  follow  the  news  rule  and 
yet  to  observe  the  conventional  literary  rule  of  emphasis. 

LIL  Thought-building  in  journalism;  editorial 
writing.  —  Editorial  writing  is  the  writing  of  com- 
ment upon  matters  of  current  interest,  which,  of  course, 
means  mainly  matters  of  current  news.  Any  one  of  the 
forms  of  discourse  may  be  employed  in  editorial  writing, 
but  the  two  forms  most  common  are  exposition  and 
argumentation.  The  qualifications  of  a  good  editorial 
writer  are  broad  reading,  accurate  recollection,  im- 
passionate  judgment,  fair-mindedness,  and  thorough 
skill  in  writing.  His  business  is  to  interpret  the 


158       THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

doings  and  the  thought  of  the  world,  or  of  some  part 
of  it,  from  day  to  day.  The  subjects  with  which  he 
may  deal  are  unlimited  in  number,  and  the  ways  in 
which  he  may  deal  with  them  are  equally  numerous. 
Only  the  requirements  of  good  taste  and  good  judg- 
ment lay  restraint  on  him.  Great  thought  and  great 
genius  can,  therefore,  find  expression  through  journal- 
ism. 

Note  1:  The  beginner  in  editorial  writing  should  heed  a  few 
cautions.  First,  he  should  not  write  upon  a  subject  that  he  does 
not  understand.  Second,  it  is  better  to  write  about  a  limited 
aspect  of  a  subject  and  write  effectively,  than  it  is  to  write  about 
a  larger  subject  and  fail  to  write  understandingly  and  con- 
vincingly. Third,  the  subjects  that  are  close  at  hand  are  likely 
to  be  the  subjects  that  one  can  discuss  best,  because  he  knows 
them  most  intimately;  for  a  student,  an  editorial  article  about 
school  or  college,  or  class  or  fraternity  affairs,  or  about  his 
subjects  of  study,  and  the  like,  will  often  be  worth  more  than 
an  article  upon  some  more  remote  matter.  Fourth,  few  persons 
can  write  well  about  "things  in  general,"  or  vague  and  abstract 
ideas;  men  of  genius  and  great  talent  can  do  so,  but  the  chances 
are  that  they  would  usually  avoid  such  subjects  were  they  writing 
editorials.  The  editorial  article  should  be  concrete  and  definite. 
Fifth,  the  tendency  to  make  editorial  articles  short  is  increasing; 
men  are  discovering  how  much  can  be  said  in  a  few  words. 
Sixth,  simple  words  and  clear  sentences  should  prevail,  but  the 
vocabulary  should  be  abundant,  the  diction  skilful,  and  the  style 
pleasing  as  well  as  forceful. 

Note  2:  Certain  departments  of  newspaper  work  are  mainly 
editorial,  but  involve  some  degree  of  reporting.  Others  call 
mainly  for  reporting,  but  involve  some  editorial  writing.  Of  the 
first  kind  are  dramatic  criticism  and  book-reviewing.  Of  the 
second  kind  are  real  estate  and  financial  reporting,  and  the  report- 
ing of  sports. 


TOWARD  SPECIAL  ENDS  159 

LIII.  Conclusion:  the  value  of  journalistic  prac- 
tice in  writing.  —  Journalistic  writing  supplies  an 
excellent  means  of  approach  to  composition,  for  it 
depends  on  fundamental  principles  and  is  practical  in 
purpose.  Moreover,  many  persons  think  that  modern 
education  keeps  the  student  from  entering  early 
enough  into  the  spirit  and  the  needs  of  his  own  times, 
and  a  study  of  journalism,  notwithstanding  all  that  is 
alleged  against  the  press,  is  one  of  the  best  introductions 
to  contemporary  thought  and  history. 

Note:  Among  the  reasons  why  journalistic  writing  gives 
unusually  good  training  in  thought-building  and  composition 
are  these:  Practice  in  observing  what  goes  on  about  one,  analyzing 
it,  and  reporting  it  accurately  and  promptly  gives  excellent  discipline 
in  the  use  of  the  faculties  and  in  the  handling  of  language. 

It  is  interesting. 

The  attempt  by  a  student  to  form  sound  opinions  on  matters  of 
news  and  current  thought  leads  him  to  realize  the  insufficiency  of  his 
vocabulary  and  command  of  languages,  and  of  his  reading,  his 
reasoning  powers,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  world,  alike  in  its 
present  and  its  past;  for  it  sets  him  by  turn  before  many  open  gate- 
ways, through  which  are  to  be  caught  glimpses  into  the  world  of 
learning  and  into  life. 

All  this  ought  to  stimulate  him  to  more  earnest  effort  toward 
acquiring  discipline,  knowledge,  and  power  —  ought  to  make 
him  a  more  interested  and  energetic  student  of  men  and  of  books. 
If  it  fail  to  do  so,  there  is  something  wrong  —  with  him. 

48-53.  EXERCISES  ON  SECTIONS  XLVIII-LIII. 

No  exercises  are  suggested  to  the  teacher  for  these 
sections.  To  suggest  such  exercises  would  be  all 
but  futile.  News  cannot  be  foreseen;  the  con- 


160      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN   COMPOSITION 

ditions  under  which  the  individual  teacher  must 
work  in  assigning  students  to  do  newspaper  writing 
cannot  be  foreseen;  the  best  subjects  for  editorial 
writing  at  any  particular  time  cannot  be  guessed  in 
advance. 

The  daily  events  of  the  school  and  of  the  town  can 
be  made  subjects  for  reporting.  Scientific,  technical, 
industrial,  agricultural,  educational,  and  literary  in- 
formation can  be  treated  in  information-stories,  and 
the  work  of  the  reporters  thus  made  to  contribute 
directly  to  their  interest  in  other  studies,  and  their 
interest  in  the  other  studies  thus  utilized  also  to 
increase  their  interest  in  composition. 

Matters  of  school  and  local  interest — and,  with  stu- 
dents who  are  sufficiently  advanced,  matters  of  state, 
national,  and  international  importance — are  an  in- 
exhaustible source  of  editorial  subjects. 

Teachers  who  wish  to  do  so  will  not  find  it  difficult  to 
provide  local  newspapers  with  school  news  gathered  by 
their  students.  From  such  a  column,  the  school  and 
the  community  will  both  benefit.  Under  the  author's 
direction,  a  class  of  college  juniors  and  seniors  supply 
one  of  the  important  daily  papers  of  the  State  with 
a  page  of  rural  matter  every  Sunday,  and  he  is  able 
also  to  use  a  limited  amount  of  their  copy  in  a  feature- 
page  of  which  he  is  editor  in  one  of  the  metropoli- 
tan papers.  He  would  not  recommend  that  work  of 
such  importance  be  attempted  with  freshmen;  yet 
doubtless  lesser  undertakings  of  the  like  sort  can  often 
be  carried  out  with  beginners.  Cooperation  with  the 


TOWARD  SPECIAL  ENDS  161 

college  papers  and  magazines  ought  frequently  to  be 
possible,  to  the  benefit  of  both  the  periodical  and  the 
class. 

Professor  Frank  L.  Martin,  of  the  School  of  Jour- 
nalism of  the  University  of  Missouri,  gives  this  outline 
to  suggest  what  in  general  constitutes  school  news  for 
the  newspapers : l 

New  courses  of  study. 
Winning  of  prizes  and  honors. 
Entertainments  by  pupils. 
Debating  contests. 
Attendance. 

New  methods  in  teaching. 
\  Experiments  by  students. 
Improvements  and  added  equipment. 
Meetings  of  societies. 
Lectures  (outside  of  classroom). 
Commencement  exercises. 
Class  meetings,  activities,  etc. 
Rules  governing  discipline,  study,  etc. 
Changes  in  teaching  force. 
Teachers'  meetings. 
Institute  meetings. 
School  board  meetings. 

One  more  suggestion,  but  an  important  one: 
Students  should  study  the  best  journals  and  model  the 
structure  of  the  reports  and  editorials  they  write  upon 

1  Bulletins  of  the  University  of  Missouri,  Education  Series,  Vol.  I, 
No.  3,  "Journalism  for  Teachers"  (1912). 


162      THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 

the  stories  and  editorials  found  in  these  journals. 
Metropolitan  papers  are  to  be  preferred  as  more  likely 
to  contain  the  best  models  of  newspaper  structure. 
The  Associated  Press  reports  are  good  models  for  the 
news  story. 

A  few  characteristic  heads  are  illustrated  here. 
Students  who  are  interested  will  find  it  worth  while 
to  study  the  forms  of  head  used  in  some  good 
newspaper.  Observe  the  kind  of  story,  the  length  of 
the  story,  and  its  importance;  the  number  of  decks  in 
the  head ;  the  number  of  lines  and  the  size  of  the  type 
in  each  deck;  the  number  of  letters  and  spaces  in  each 
line;  whether  punctuation  is  permitted  within  the  line 
or  deck;  whether  the  same  word  is  used  twice  in  the 
same  head;  the  arrangement  of  lines  in  each  deck;  etc. 


[No.  1  (see  story  on  p.  1£1.)] 

TRADE  TRIP  ENDS  IN  A  WALK 


THE  SPECIAL  TRAIN  BALKED"  THREE 
BLOCKS  FROM  THE  DEPOT. 


Most  Successful  of  All  the  Journeys,  the 

Commercial  Club  Boosters  Say  — A 

Reunion  Tuesday  Night  to 

Talk  it  Over. 


TOWARD  SPECIAL  ENDS  163 

[No.  2.] 

STORE  THE  EXTRA  EGGS. 


[No.  3.} 


WITH   WATER   GLASS    THEY   CAN   BE 
PRESERVED   FOR  EIGHT   MONTHS. 


Now,  When  the  Hens  Are  Laying  Best,  is  a 
Good  Time  to  Prepare  for  a  Scar- 
city Next  Winter— Method 
is  Simple. 


Miss  Helen  F.  Kolba,  Just  About 

of  Age,  Has  a  Business 

of  Her  Own. 


FATHER       TAUGHT        HER 


She  Started    Helping   Him   at   15 

and  Likes  the  Work  Well 

Enough. 


164       THOUGHT-BUILDING  IN  COMPOSITION 
[No.  4.} 

NARKING  TINE 
IN  THE  GREAT 
DOCK  STRIKE 


London  Streets  Take  on  a  Sun- 
day Appearance  Due  to  the 
Absence  of  Trucks  —  Grave 
Events  Are  Ahead. 

[No.  5.] 

PRINCETON  IN  FANCY  DRESS 

Thousands  Back  for  the  Yale  Game  — 
Wilson  and  Tener  There. 

[No.  6.] 

"DEAD"  MAN  ALIGHTS  FROM 
TRAIN;  FUNERAL  IS  OFF 

[No.  7.] 

BIG  OCTOPUS  HOOKED. 

AVALON,  Cal.,  June  8. —  The  combined  efforts 
of  six  men  were  necessary  to  loosen  the  tentacles 
of  a  12-ft.  devil  fish  from  the  hull  of  the  launch  of 
Mike  Marincovinch,  who  hooked  the  monster 
while  fishing  for  grouper  off  Catalina  Island. 


INDEX  OF  SECTIONS  BY  PAGES 


I... 

...16 

XIX... 

...68 

XXXVII... 

..113 

II... 

...18 

XX... 

...71 

XXXVIII... 

..116 

III... 

...20 

XXI... 

...74 

XXXIX.. 

.  .  118 

IV... 

...26 

XXII... 

...77 

XL.. 

.  .  120 

V... 

...27 

XXIII... 

...80 

XLI... 

,  .  .  127 

VI... 

...32 

XXIV.  .  . 

...83 

XLII.. 

.  .  129 

VII... 

...34 

XXV.  .  . 

...88 

XLIII... 

.  .  130 

VIII... 

...35 

XXVI... 

...90 

XLIV.. 

.  .  135 

IX... 

...43 

XXVII... 

...92 

XLV.. 

,  .  .  138 

X... 

...44 

XXVIII.. 

...94 

XLVI.. 

,  .  .  140 

XI... 

...49 

XXIX... 

...96 

XLVII.. 

.  .  141 

XII... 

...54 

XXX.. 

...97 

XLVIII.. 

.  .  .  144 

XIII... 

...56 

XXXI... 

..101 

XLIX.. 

,  .  .  146 

XIV... 

...58 

XXXII... 

..102 

L.. 

,  .  .  147 

XV... 

...60 

XXXIII... 

.  .  104 

LI.. 

.  .  149 

XVI... 

...62 

XXXIV... 

..107 

LII... 

.  .  157 

XVII... 

...64 

XXXV.  .  . 

..109 

LIII... 

.  .  159 

XVIII.. 

..67 

XXXVI.. 

..111 

106 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS  AND  TOPICS 


Adapting  Thought,  see  Selec- 
tion. 

Argumentation,  XLIII,  note  4, 
p.  131;  XLVIII-XLIX, 
pp.  (144)-145,  146-147. 

Cause  or  Effect,  Thought- 
Building  by  Explaining, 
XXIV,  p.  83. 

Central  Thought,  see  Topic 
Thought. 

Coherence  (Connectedness  of 
Thought  or  Language) 
is  involved  in  nearly  all 
that  concerns  outlines 
(see  Planning).  Specif- 
ically, see  V,  pp.  27-31; 
XLI-XLVII,  pp.  127- 
143;  Special  Means  of 
Securing,  XLIV,  notes, 
p.  135. 

Composition,  I,  16-18;   IX,  p. 

43. 
Journalistic,    XLVIII-LIII, 

pp.  144-162. 
Processes  of,  see  Processes. 

Comparing  to  and  with,  XV- 
XVI,  pp.  60-64. 

Conclusion,  XXVI,  p.  90; 
XXVIII,  p.  94.  (See 
also  False  Beginning, 
False  Ending,  Sequence, 
Emphasis.) 

Connectedness  of  Thought  or 
Language,  see  Coher- 
ence.' 


167 


Connectives,  Connection,  see 
under  Coherence. 

Content  of  Terms,  Thought- 
Building  by  Showing, 
XX,  p.  71. 

Contrast,  Development  by, 
XVI,  p.  62. 

Deduction,  see  Induction. 
Definition,    XVIII-XXI,    pp. 

67-77. 
Description,    p.    37;     XLIII, 

note  2,  p.  130;  XL VIII, 

pp.   (144)-145;    XLIX, 

pp.  146-147. 
Description,  Viewpoint  in,  see 

Point  of  View. 
Development,     Methods     of, 

XIII,   p.   56;    also  X, 

p.  44;  XIV-XXIV,  pp. 

58-87. 
Development  by — 

Enumerating  Details,  XIV, 

p.  58. 
Illustration    (comparison  to 

and   with),    XV-XVII, 

pp.  60-67. 

Contrast,  XVI,  p.  62. 
Example,  XVII,  p.  64. 
Definition,  XVIII-XXI,  pp. 

67-83;  by  Synonym  and 

Simpler    Terms,    XIX, 

p.  68;  Showing  Content. 

XX,    p.    71;     Logical 

Definition,  XXI,  p.  74; 


168 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS  AND  TOPICS 


Development  by  (continued)  — 
Applying  a  Principle,  XXII, 

p.  77. 
Presenting    Proof,    XXIII, 

p.  80. 
Explaining  Cause  or  Effect, 

XXIV,  p.  83. 

Differentia,  see  Logical  Defi- 
nition. 

Discourse,  see  Forms  of  Dis- 
course. 

Divisions  of  Outline,  see  Plan- 
ning. 

Editorial  Writing,  see  News- 
paper Writing. 

Effect,  see  Cause. 

Emphasis  is  involved  in  nearly 
all  that  concerns  out- 
lines; see  under  Plan- 
ning; Introduction;  Con- 
clusion; Order.  Spe- 
cifically, see  VI,  pp.  32- 
33;  XLV,  pp.  138-140; 
in  News  Writing,  VI, 
pp.  32-33,  and  LI,  note 
5,  p.  157. 

English,  Reasons  for  Studying, 
9-15. 

Enumeration  of  Details,  XIV, 
p.  58. 

Example,  Development  by, 
XVII,  p.  64. 

Exposition,  XLIII,  note  3,  p. 
131;XLVIII,pp.  (144)- 
145;  XLIX,  pp.  146- 
147. 

False  Beginning,  XXVII,  note 
2,  p.  92.  (See  also 
Planning.) 

False  Ending,  XXVIII,  note  1, 
p.  95.  (See  also  Con- 
clusion,  Planning.) 


Forms  of  Discourse,  XL VIII, 
pp.  144-145;  XLIX, 

pp.  146-147.  (See  also 
Description;  Narration; 
Exposition;  Argumen- 
tation.) 

General  Principles,  pp.  16-87. 
Genus,  see  Logical  Definition. 
Grammatical  Subject,  see  Rhe- 
torical Subject. 

Headings  of  Outline,  see  Plan- 
ning. 

Headlines,  L,  note  2,  p.  148; 
pp.  162-164. 

Illustration,  XV-XVII,  pp.  60- 
67. 

Induction  and  Deduction,  X, 
p.  44;  XVIII-XXI, 
pp.  67-77;  see  also 
XIII,  p.  56;  XIV- 
XXIV,  pp.  58-87. 

Instance  and  Example,  De- 
velopment by,  XVII, 
p.  64. 

Introduction,  see  Conclusion; 
False  Beginning;  Se- 
quence; Emphasis. 

Journalistic  Principles,  see 
Newspaper. 

Lead,  see  Newspaper  Writing. 

Limitation  of  Subject,  see  Sub- 
ject;   Topic;    Working- 
Thought.    Specifically, 
see  III,  note  3. 

Logical  Definition,  XXI,  p.  74, 

Methods  of  Developing 
Thought,  XIII,  p.  56. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS  AND  TOPICS 


169 


Narration,  p.  37;  XLIII,  note 

1,    p.     130;     XLVIH, 

pp.   (144)-145;    XLIX, 

pp.  146-147. 
News,    XLIX,    pp.    146-147; 

L-LI,  pp.   147-158. 
Newspaper  " Paragraphs,"  (i: 

5),  p.  17. 
Newspaper  Writing,  — 

Aims  of,  XLIX,  pp.  146-147. 
Editorial    Writing,    XLIX, 

pp.  146-147;    LII,  pp. 

157-158. 
Feature,  LI,  note  2,  pp.  149- 

151. 
Lead  in  News  Story,  LI,  pp. 

149-158. 
Order  and  Emphasis,  VI,  pp. 

32-33. 
Reporters    and    Reporting, 

XLIX,     pp.     146-147; 

L-LI,  pp.  147-158. 
"Story,"  L,  note  2,  p.  148. 

Order  (Sequence;  Arrange- 
ment), VI,  pp.  32-33; 
XII,  p.  54;  XLIII- 
XLIV,  pp.  130-138; 
LI,  note  5,  p.  157.  (Also 
seePlanning;  Emphasis.) 

Outlines,  see  Planning. 

All  the  book  di- 
rectly concerns  para- 
graph building.  See  spe- 
cifically I,  II,  16-18;  IV, 
note,  p.  27;  V,  note  1, 
p.  28;  VII,  pp.  34-35. 

Place  Emphasis,  Ex.  6,  qn.  2, 
p.  32;  note  12,  p.  39. 
(See  also  Emphasis, 
Space  Emphasis.) 

Point  of  View,  XL,  pp.  120- 
127.  (See  also  Unity.) 

Predicate,  see  Working- 
Thought. 


Principle,  Thought-Building  by 
Applying,  XXII,  p.  77. 

Processes  of  Thought-Build- 
ing, X,  p.  44;  XIV- 
XXIV,  pp.  58-87. 

Proof,  Thought-Building  by 
Presenting,  XXIII,  p. 
80. 

Proportion,  XXXVI,  note  3, 
p.  112.  (See  also  Em- 
phasis; Space  Empha- 
sis.) 

Purpose  (see  also  Method; 
Forms  of  Discourse) , 
note  13,  p.  40. 

Reasons  for  Studying  English, 

9-15. 
Reporters  and  Reporting,  see 

Newspaper  Writing. 
Rhetorical  Subject  (3,6),  p.  24. 

Selection  of  Material,  XI,  p. 
49;  XII,  note  2,  p.  54. 

Sequence,  see  Emphasis,  Order, 
Planning. 

Skeleton,  see  Planning. 

Space  Emphasis,  6,  1,  p.  32. 

Subject  and  Topic,  III,  pp.  20- 
26;  Large,  Small,  III, 
note  6,  p.  21;  Rhetori- 
cal, Grammatical,  p.  24. 

Summaries,  see  Coherence. 

Synonyms  and  Simpler  Terms, 
Thought-Building  by, 
XIX,  p.  68. 

Term,  III,  notes  1-2,  p.  20; 
XXI,  note  3,  p.  75. 

Thought-Blocks,  see  Units 
of  Thought. 

Thought-Material,  see  Selec- 
tion. 

Title,  III,  note  8,  pp.  22,  25. 
(See  also  Headings.) 


170 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS  AND  TOPICS 


Topic,  Topic  Statement,  and 
Subject,  III,  pp.  20-26; 
and  Working-Thought, 
III,  pp.  20-21.  See 
also  VIII,  pp.  35-43. 
(See  Working-Thought.) 

Transitions,  see  Coherence, 
XLIV,  pp.  135-138. 

Unity  is  involved  in  nearly  all 
that  concerns  outlines; 
see  Planning.  Specif- 
ically, see  II,  pp.  18-20; 
V,  27;  XXXIX-XLII, 
pp.  118-130. 


Units  of  Thought,  II,  pp.  18- 
20;  IV,  pp.  26-27;  VII, 
pp.  34r-35. 

Viewpoint,  see  Point  of  View. 

Whole  Composition,  I,  pp.  16- 
18;  VII,  p.  34. 

Working-Thought,  III.  pp.  20- 
26;  VIII,  pp.  35-43; 
XII,  note  2,  p.  54; 
XXX  (p.  98);  in  News 
Writing,  LI,  note  1, 
p.  149.  See  everywhere 
through  the  book. 


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